Hockeybird.com: Report Card: MON 2 @ NYR 1

Report Card: MON 2 @ NYR 1

Wednesday - December 10, 2003

12/10/03	1	2	3	OT	F
	1	0	1		2
	0	1	0		1

Goalie	GA/SH	Grade	Comments
Mike Dunham #30, G	2/23	B-	Not his fault on the Habs first because the pass never should've gotten through. It did and it was a slam dunk that Dunham had no chance on. Made a nice save on a 15 foot slapper from Samuelsson later in the 1st. Excellent stacked pad save on a Langdon rebound midway through the 2nd. The Habs goal in the 3rd... eh. Good shot. Great shot? Nah. At least, I didn't think so. Not a horrible let in, but you can't really defend Dunham on this one. This is how Dunham has been lately. Playing decent games but not quite the goalie he was last season or earlier this season. Yeah, he only let in two and one was hardly his fault, but Montreal also only had about 5 good scoring chances in 60 minutes.
Jussi Markkanen #40, G	0/0		(DNP)
Defenseman	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Brian Leetch #2, LD	25:43	C-	Brutal shift on a 2nd period PP twice giving the puck away with stupid passes within 20 seconds of each other. Redeemed himself later in the period by staying strong on his check of Perreault in front of the net, stopping him from what would've been a shot at a half empty net. Overall, though, a VERY lazy, phone-it-in type game for Brian. The Rangers needed him tonight and he wasn't there. His +1 is more luck and circumstance than an indication of his play.
Greg de Vries #4, RD	16:56	C	Too slow. Habs first goal de Vries was against the back boards and took too long to get out to the open man in front. I couldn't really tell on the Rangers first goal if that was an intentional pass from de Vries at the point down to Simon, or if as they said on MSG, it was deflected a few times and just found Simon. If that was an intentional pass, it was a beaut.
Vladimir Malakhov #23, LD	18:21	C	Allowed the centering pass to get through his legs/stick area on Montreal's first. Was also on the ice for the Habs' second goal, though that one was all Nedved's masterpiece. 2 goals against, 1 goal for and Vlad was a -2 = not so great.
Boris Mironov #29, RD	18:18	C	Shaky but not disasterous game for the Boris. One time had a good scoring chance and tried to make an unnecessary pass through about 10 legs, which of course was deflected away.
Darius Kasparaitis #6, LD	16:15	B-	I got nothing here. Not bad, not great. Nothing major in the hit department, but no big mistakes.
Tom Poti #3, RD	17:26	B	Sharp 1st period. Got his stick on a Habs' stick at the corner of the net on the PK, breaking up what would've been a good scoring chance. Montreal coming down on a rush, Poti uses his pole vault of a stick to break up the play outside the zone. Then later he went and gave a few shots to Langdon after he hit Kovalev. Glad someone decided to show up so far. Actually, the whole game Poti was one of the sharper and more physical players on the ice.
Forward	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Bobby Holik #16, C	20:59	C-	Stupid/over-anxious slashing penalty all of 14 seconds into the game. Another very untimely penalty early in the 3rd in a 1-1 game, although it was a hell of a touchy call. Here's something I haven't said much of this season: Holik had a bad game. Period. Was about 1/4th of the player tonight compared to what he's been the rest of this season. I hope he doesn't shoot his mouth off after the game tonight, because he was as lethargic as anyone.
Martin Rucinsky #26, LW	21:26	C	I don't know what the hell happened on that rebound in the 3rd period with Rucinsky staring at a wide open net. He just missed it. Flipped over his stick, I suppose.
Alexei Kovalev #27, RW	25:22	C+	At least he got off 4 shots, which is more than anyone else on the team could say besides Simon and Rucinsky, but you've got to expect more from Kovalev in 25+ minutes than just 4 harmless shots. Not bad but nowhere as near as good as he could've and should've been.
Petr Nedved #93, C	20:04	F	Did you notice his shot on net early in the game? I hope you did because that was the last time any of his shots would hit the net out of about eight more chances. Then, 3rd period, important 1-1 game, Nedved tries a cute behind the back pass in his own zone, it's intercepted and a goal. It's been building all season long and now it's official. Petr Nedved is in the doghouse, the REAL doghouse that players like Kamensky, Ulanov and Nedved of two years ago get into where there's almost no escape for the rest of the season. He hasn't played good all season and in fact has been flat out POOR in the last month, now if he's going to add mistakes like this on top of it he's doomed. Nedved is and has been the biggest drag on the roster this season and will hopefully be traded as soon as possible. -2.
Jan Hlavac #37, LW	3:42	D	Montreal's first goal, Hlavac is behind the net, takes no one. Puck goes to the corner, Hlavac comes out in front, skates right by the eventual goal scorer. Nice work, dude. He got benched for this and benched HARD. One shift in the 2nd, none in the 3rd.
Anson Carter #22, RW	19:49	C+	Man, he can be a spectacular stick handler at times. One shift in the 1st he weaved through about 3 people to create a scoring chance, then in the 3rd he made a super-slick move between a Habs' legs on a SH chance but lost the puck at the last minute.
Mark Messier #11, C	19:17	C	You've gotta give the old goat credit, he can still win faceoffs as well as anyone in the league as his 16 of 22 rate shows. Otherwise, though, Messier didn't do a damn thing in this game and glided around all night. Seriously.
Chris Simon #17, LW	12:14	B	Credit for taking on Langdon in the 2nd after the ex-Ranger was ran a few of his former teammates. Unfortunately the fight was over in 5 seconds as Langdon slipped and fell. Later in the period went to the net after a faceoff and got his stick out to redirect a pass/deflection (?) into the open side. One of the few players who doesn't have to hang his head tonight. A goal, a fight and 4 shots in 12 minutes while players like Nedved and Messier can't do half as much in twice the time.
Matthew Barnaby #36, RW	13:18	C	Last week, epsecially around the Islander game, was the Week of Barnaby Love between his play on the ice and his comments off of it. Let's just say it's not last week anymore. Barnaby turns in games like this now and then where he gets banged around all night, his passes constantly miss and he's ineffective overall.
Eric Lindros #88, C	19:13	B-	Got moved to the LW of the Nedved line once Hlavac was scratched. Yes, LEFT wing. I expect to see him playing goal next. Played a pretty strong and tough game, although there's only so much you can do with that black hole known as Nedved as your center.
Dan Lacouture #39, LW	3:38	C	Threw a hit or two. Three minutes and thirty eight seconds. Lacouture certainly isn't the most sparkling player to ever lace 'em up, but in his defense, what can you expect in 3 minutes?
Jed Ortmeyer #41, RW	4:36	B	The guy is a fantastic shot blocker. One series in the 1st he lost the puck in his own zone, found it at the point, crouched down while still facing the puck and sure enough blocked it. Nice end period shift with two big hits within 20 seconds.

COACHING STAFF:		D	Fine, you want to scratch Hlavac for a terrible mistake, knock yourself out. BUT WHY NOT NEDVED?!? The guy has been awful for at least a month and made the worst single blunder of the ENTIRE SEASON, yet he doesn't even miss a shift! What the hell is Sather's facination with the guy? I hope the reason he's always out there is because he's being shopped around.

1st PERIOD:		C-	You could see this happening, couldn't you? The times when the Canadiens have played well the last few years they play as simple and boring a game as anyone in the league. The Rangers came out sharp but not physical or energetic, they owned the shots 11-2 at one point but then the Rangers, AS THEY ALWAYS DO, try to match their game to their opponents', one mistake and Montreal leads 1-0 despite the Rangers owning the shot edge 15-6. Why can't the Rangers EVER dictate the style of play instead of always matching it?
2nd PERIOD:		B	That's better. The hitting and hard work wasn't constant throughout the period but it was much, much better than the 1st period. A few big shifts from Ortmeyer, Simon and Lindros and finally there's some life in this game, which is just what the Rangers needed.
3rd PERIOD:		D	Bah.
OVERALL:		D-	This is now officially the same team as last season, a 9th or 10th place bubble team who shouldn't give anyone reason for optimism. And it was THIS game that made up my mind. Sure, Montreal played a tight, solid defensive game, but did they play that well overall? Hardly! They didn't crash the net, they didn't bang the Rangers, they didn't skate harder, they just played very safe and waited for mistakes, which the Rangers were only too happy to provide. This team needs a serious shakeup as they've been on a general downward slide for the past 2 or 3 weeks. A few trades (Nedved and Hlavac, please!!), some benchings, something severe. This was not a great team that beat 'em tonight, yet they did and every Ranger knew how important this was. Something has to change, and soon. There are no excuses for tonight's mediocre performance. I don't want to hear about flukes or referees tonight because the Rangers simply did not AT ANY TIME play like they really wanted to win this game. And here we are again, like we are every year.
Scratches:			Joel Bouchard (healthy) Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Jamie Lundmark (knee - IR) Dale Purinton (healthy) Pascal Rheaume (knee - IR)
created by:			Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net
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Posted by pete at December 10, 2003 09:53 PM
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Comments

Sad to see that people are starting to come around to what I have been saying since the first day of the season.

Just wondering there Pete if you have figured out what system the Rangers are playing because for the life of me I still don't see one unless you consider "No heart, No effort, no discipline, No common sense" a system

Posted by: Jess on December 10, 2003 11:54 PM