| 11/25/03 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
 |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Goalie
|
GA/SH
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Mike
Dunham #30, G |
0/0 | (DNP) | |
| Jussi Markkanen #40, G |
0/36 |
A- | Unsung hero of the 1st period
while before the Rangers took over and the game was still
back-and-forth and Jussi made several nice saves, mostly on long, unscreened shots, but there were some blasts that I wouldn't have been surprised to see go in. Great save on the warp speed St. Louis (damn if that guy ain't the fastest player in the league then he's easily in the top-10) from mid-center ice in about halfway through the 2nd. St. Louis didn't make a move, just tried for the 5-hole and Markannen hit his knees quickly blocking the opening. 3rd period was much like the 2nd - Jussi had to stop 14 but only 2 or 3 of those could be considered difficult. However, a shutout in Tampa Bay, 36 shots, how could I not give him something in the "A" range? |
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Brian Leetch #2, LD |
22:53 | B | What a difference two
games make. Two games ago in Colorado Leetch was looking awful with
anticipation and reaction times of a player half of what he should be,
but he's really seemed to come around the past two games. Nothing
spectacular, but I'm not cringing when seeing Leetch with the puck any
longer. |
| Greg de Vries #4, RD |
18:57 | B | Didn't notice de Vries too much, which is how it should be as the "stay home" part of his pairing with Leetch. |
| Vladimir
Malakhov #23, LD |
21:28 | B+ | Him and Bobo were the foundation tonight, picking up
heavier than usual ice time and both playing a strong and mean game. I'm
still not used to seeing Vlad playing this hard. Several times per game
I see him knock someone to the ice and wonder why. What's his
motivation? |
| Boris Mironov #29, RD |
21:14 | B+ | Jesus. Boris with a
little help from Vlad nearly killed Fedotenko in the 3rd period by
ramming his head straight into the crossbar while he was fishing for a
rebound. You usually don't see violence of that magnitude until the
playoffs. Like I mentioned in Vlad's column, a very strong game for the
Soviet twins tonight. |
| Tom
Poti #3, LD |
16:49 | B | Once again he's on both the left side and the right
side. I'm tired of changing the names in his and Kasparaitis' boxes all
night long every game, but if you're interested in these things, Poti
played more on the right than the left. At least, I'm pretty sure he
did. Whatever. Strong game. Certainly likes whacking the crap out of
people with his 15 foot Easton aluminum, doesn't he? +1. |
| Darius Kasparaitis #6, RD |
15:37 | B | Took a holding penalty
in the 3rd right after the Rangers just killed a penalty. Risky
penalty, but the Rangers PK was nothing less than fantastic tonight and
could handle it. A few nice hits and a very solid game overall. +1. |
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Bobby
Holik #16, C |
17:45 | B | Another strong game, not too much on the offensive
side but played typically mean & tough. |
| Martin Rucinsky #26, LW |
20:27 | B | He's been looking like a
different player lately. JD commented that he thinks Rucinsky is
playing the best hockey of his career right now and that very well
could be. Excellent penalty killing, looks like he has twice the speed
as he had a month ago. |
| Alexei
Kovalev #27, RW |
20:40 | B+ | Excellent work at the PP point, the best he's been up
there since re-joining the Rangers last season. Very decisive with the
puck. Great shot/pass to Messier from the PP point for the Rangers
first. Real stupid penalty in the 2nd, was forced to play without a
stick for a while and ended up grabbing a Lightning jersey in a very
obvious penalty. Led the team with 5 shots. |
| Petr Nedved #93, C |
15:02 | B | When Nedved gets no shots on goal it's almost a sure fire sign that he's had a bad game, but Petr really didn't tonight. Skated hard and used his body in battles along the boards rather than his stick. Bad turnover late in the 3rd that Markannen had to make a great kick save on and a few other touchy moments, but I'm in a good mood so I'll stick with the "B". |
| Jan
Hlavac #37, LW |
12:36 | B | This entire line played well yet were hardly dazzling
or anything. Hlavac finally seems to be back on an upswing after his
game was deteriorating for the past 3 or so weeks. 2 shots. |
| Anson Carter #22, RW |
13:49 | B | Gretzky-like weave
through two defensemen in the 2nd period. Beautiful move, left both of
them behind, but just couldn't pull the puck around Khabibulin as it
looked like it hit his blocker or it would've been an easy backhand
goal. Strong effort tonight. 2 shots. |
| Mark
Messier #11, C |
18:03 | B+ | Nice deflection on a hard pass/shot from Kovalev at
the point on the PP, Messier got turned around just in time to get his
stick on it and redirect the puck into the empty side. Completely
dominant on faceoffs at 11 of 13. Nice game, seemed to have the jump he
hasn't had in a week or so. |
| Chris Simon #17, LW |
8:40 | B- | Simon, like Barnaby, were both playing okay tonight but nothing entirely special, and their ice time reflected that. Nothing to complain about, but like I said, nothing to note, either. |
| Matthew
Barnaby #36, RW |
8:40 | B- | See Simon, Chris. Same type of game, exact same ice
time. Nothing bad, nothing great. |
| Eric Lindros #88, C |
12:02 | B |
Ohhh
man, I am LOVING this line! A storm of hitting and hard forechecking
from all three players. I might have even gotten misty eyed at one
point. Lindros sure isn't going to pick up a lot of points with these
two, but you never know. Eric has always thrived with tough,
net-crashing wingers. Nice pass out to Ortmeyer for his goal. 3 shots
in the 1st but none the following two periods. |
| Richard
Scott #13, LW |
8:29 | B+ | Lucky number 13! That's my man. Came out on fire,
hitting everything that moved (and Lecavalier is damn lucky he did just
slightly move out of the way or his own mother would've felt that hit)
and set a good tone for the entire team. Fought Dingman in the 2nd and
Dingman fell down early (while Scott kept punching at him) so it wasn't
much of a fight. I really like watching him play and there's no reason
he shouldn't stay in the lineup. Jamie who? THIS is how you make an
impact as a youngster on the 4th line. |
| Jed Ortmeyer #41, RW |
11:55 | B+ | I was about to poke some
fun at his complete lack of scoring skills when he badly flubbed a
potential goal on a 2-on-1 with Lindros but the puck stayed in the
zone, came behind the net to Lindros who passed it out to Ortmeyer in
front and two whacks and it was in for his first NHL goal. Continued
good hitting and PK'ing. I'd like to see about 5-10 more games before
deciding, but right now he's looking like my favorite rookie since Mike
York. |
|
|
|||
| COACHING STAFF: | B+ | KEEP THIS LINEUP EXACTLY HOW IT IS! DO NOT TOUCH IT! Putting Lindros between the energetic Scott and Ortmeyer is looking to be something of a brilliant move - a fierce 4th line that can take a regular shift and protect and compliment Lindros at the same time. | |
| |
|||
| 1st PERIOD: | A | HOLY HELL! Looking incredibly sharp, especially the
power play which was throwing the puck around on a string like it was
the '85 Oilers. It really was a sight to behold. The Rangers hit, the
Rangers skated, the Rangers battled for the puck hard along the boards
and the Rangers very deservingly lead 2-0. In fact, shots were an
overwhelming 18-8 in favor of the Rangers this period. I'm sure Tampa
is going to come out a lot harder in the 2nd, though, so let's see if
the Rangers can actually play consistently from period to period. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | C+ | It may look quite ugly
with the Lightning having a 14-4 edge in shots, but the Rangers didn't
play TOO badly. Markannen had to have a great period, and obviously
with 4 shots the Rangers hardly produced any offense themselves, BUT
THEY DID KEEP HITTING. They hit just as much in this period as the 1st,
if not more. That's the only way to get the edge against this team of
speedy shrimps. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | B- | Almost exactly like the 2nd period - Lightning
outshot the Rangers heavily (14-2, in fact!) but it wasn't exactly
edge-of-your-seat stuff either as most of the shots were from the
outside. Honestly, it's hard to get a read on it. 14 shots against?
Only 2 for? It must've been a disaster. But it wasn't. Really. |
|
| OVERALL: | B+ |
This
would've been the most impressive win of the season... IF THE SHOTS
WEREN'T 28-6 FOR THE LIGHTNING IN THE LAST TWO PERIODS! But, really,
it's hard to complain about it. I mean, they're playing on the home ice
of one of the better teams in the league who held an 8-1-1-1 home
record before tonight... yeah, you'd prefer to see the Rangers have
SOME offense in the final two periods, but winning in Tampa Bay 2-0 and
complaining about how it was achieved is like winning a raffle for a
thousand bucks and bitching that you're being paid in ten dollar bills. If
you would've told me last week that the Rangers would go on to beat
Ottawa and Tampa Bay by a combined score of 8-2 in the next two games,
I would've went to lie down on the couch to try and sleep off what must
be some wicked hangover hallucinations. You've got to be kidding me!
I'm still not buying into this team quite yet, though. They always
flirt around the .500 mark. They always seem to play a few great games
just to drop a few bombs in the next stretch. You couldn't possibly be
any happier with the last two games, though, and that's all that needs
to be thought about right now. And
because I promised him I'd say something if they won, here it is: The
Golden Cajones Award goes to Bird tonight for publicly predicting
tonight's Ranger win, no easy bet considering their opponent. Still,
though... I wouldn't quit your day job to run off to Vegas just yet,
slick. |
|
| Scratches: | Joel Bouchard (healthy) Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Dan Lacouture (shoulder) Jamie Lundmark (healthy) Dale Purinton (healthy) Pascal Rheaume (knee - IR) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
eMail this entry!
I would have to agree with most...except I think you are being a bit low on Nedved. I think it was his most hard working game of the season. He flat out worked his behind off on the PK. He was a key in preventing TB from gaining the zone many a times.
Posted by: Eric on November 26, 2003 07:08 AM
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