Report Card: NYR 3 @ LA 2 OT
Wednesday - December 31, 2003
| 12/30/03 | 1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
F |
 |
1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
3 |
 |
2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2 |
|
Goalie
|
GA/SH
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Mike
Dunham #30, G |
0/0 | (DNP) | |
| Jussi Markkanen #40, G |
2/30 |
A- | Kings first goal, helluva
shot, but it did beat Jussi through the 5-hole from about 30 feet out,
and those never look good. Kings second goal, Jussi found out what
Dunham's been talking about as Ortmeyer deflected a puck from about 10
feet out, catching Markannen completely unaware. 3rd period slid the
puck out to the circles RIGHT onto Straka's stick and Jussi had to make
a nice glove save. HUGE stretch midway through the 3rd, Kings on the PP
and Markannen made about 4 or 5 big saves on it. That saved the game,
really. After that so-so first goal, Jussi was very solid the rest of
the way. I hope it's not another two weeks until we see him in the
nets. The guy's a pretty damn good goalie. |
|
Defenseman
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Brian Leetch #2, LD |
26:40 | B | Late in the 1st Leetch
was faken out by Palffy just as bad as Poti's fake out (see below), but
to Leetch's fortune Palffy hit the post with the shot. Both him and
Poti were pretty shaky on defense, but Leetch turned it on in the 3rd
and led the comeback charge. 3 shots. |
| Tom Poti #3, RD |
20:48 | A- | On the Kings first goal,
Poti was faken out so badly I think he had to go back and pick up the
underwear he lost on the ice. Then... he does it again! OT, Kovalev
controlling the puck along the right half-boards, Poti streaks in from
the point and reaches out with his pole vault and taps it past Huet. Holy freakin' Poti! The
OT winner two nights in a row! You don't see that often. Maybe this
will get the vultures to stop circling him for a while. |
| Vladimir
Malakhov #23, LD |
20:20 | B | I've got nothing here. Played well enough. Um.. his ice time turned out to be very symmetrical, didn't it? |
| Boris Mironov #29, RD |
20:14 | B | 2 shots. Like Vlad, I've got nothing for this column. Did I tell you he had 2 shots? |
| Greg
de Vries #4, LD |
14:07 | A- | Moved over from his usual right side to accomidate
Bouchard. Maybe they're onto something here as he scored a goal just 3
minutes into the game after getting a beautiful backhanded pass from
Kovalev in the slot, made a quick move and snapped it in. Besides that
goal Greg was just sharp all around on offense and defense. Been
playing mostly outstanding the last few weeks. A goal and +2. |
| Joel Bouchard #74, RD |
12:37 | B- | Played a decent game,
but in the most crucial spot, 2-2 with a few minutes left, made two
turnovers in his own zone which led to about a minute of sustained
pressure from the Kings. And that knocks you down to a B-, Joel my boy.
|
|
Forward
|
Ice Time
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
| Bobby
Holik #16, C |
16:48 | B | Pretty good game, picked up a pair of secondary
assists and a shiny +2. A bit under 50% on faceoffs, though, something
you don't see often. |
| Martin Rucinsky #26, LW |
20:12 | B | Hit the side of the net
on a crucial PP in the 3rd period when he had a good chunk of the top
corner open. Like Holik, he didn't stick out but did his job well. |
| Alexei
Kovalev #27, RW |
21:58 | A- | Fantastic no-look behind the back pass right after
the Rangers killed a PP. Two men on him, facing the side boards,
threaded it between them both to find a wide open de Vries for the
goal. Also set up Rucinsky with a slick, shoulda-been-a-goal pass in
the 3rd that Martin choked on. THEN set up Poti on a nice, cross-ice
pass for the game winner. Kovalev having no shots in a game never seems
good, but he was a big part of both those goals. For whatever reason,
he was passing like he had a third eye tonight. +2. |
| Petr Nedved #93, C |
15:45 | B | Good enough game... at least as far as I can tell. Did end up with a -1, but I can't recall anything Nedved did wrong on that one. He doesn't have to score every game (though I wouldn't complain), but in games like tonight when Nedved works hard and doesn't try to avoid contact all over the ice, he's not a detriment to this team. |
| Jan
Hlavac #37, LW |
5:51 | C | Watching the ice times online while watching the
game I noticed Hlavac only had 47 seconds until about midway
through the 2nd. He got out of the doghouse briefly later in the 2nd,
but took an overzealous holding penalty in the offensive zone, probably
because he was benched and wanted to show something. It's clear Sather
doesn't like Hlavac, and it's hard to blame him. The guy just doesn't
bring much to the game. He had a little more than HALF the ice time of
the next lowest Ranger. He should probably just be scratched or traded
at this point. |
| Pascal Rheaume #20, RW |
11:04 | B | Several good hard
working shifts in the 2nd period for the brother of Manon. The guy
certainly isn't flashy, but he plays a decently tough, simple and solid
game. You need some players like this. |
| Eric
Lindros #88, C |
14:53 | B+ | He wasn't called on it, but Lindros x-checked Avery
right into the face in a puck battle in the crease. Good thing Avery
wasn't injured because I wouldn't have been surprised if Campbell gave
Lindros a game or two off for it. Not too long after he slew footed a
King from behind and dropped him to the ice which also wasn't called.
So, yeah, Eric played with an edge tonight. He also keeps his point per
game streak going and finishes with a nice assist, +1, 3 shots and 4
not so nice PIM's. |
| Chris Simon #17, LW |
14:01 | B | Oh hell. Early 3rd
period, Lindros made a fantastic backhanded pass from one side of the
crease to the other and Simon slid it RIGHT into Huet's outstretched
leg. He pulls it an inch closer to himself or just chips it over the
leg and it's an easy goal. Damn. Good game, though. Because of his size
the guy has terrific puck control because it's near impossible to get
in on him. +1, 3 shots. |
| Matthew
Barnaby #36, RW |
12:34 | B | He got a penalty in the 1st period for, and I quote,
"Removing Sweater". What now? He wasn't in a fight so I don't think
it's a case of his jersey not being tied down in the back. Was he
getting fresh with the ref's daughter? Can't say I've heard of this one
before. Pretty good game for Matt, assist, +1, 2 shots. |
| Mark Messier #11, C |
16:26 | B+ |
Had
the opening shift of the game, probably a reward for his 3 point night
last night, paid back with a dumb slashing penalty 30 seconds in. Later
in the period was on a WIIIIDE OPEN breakaway frrom nearly center ice
in, and Messier did make a good backhanded move but the Kings goalie
made a better save. 3rd period he got a very fortunate rebound wide
open in front of the net, but give the old timer credit, he can usually
still finish in those situations, which is a lot more than you can say
for most others on this team. Just a minute or two later was
careless/unlucky with his stick taking a crucial penalty with 10
minutes left in a 2-2 game. While he did take two minors in the game,
and also flew the PK zone early all night, his goal was damn important,
and that gets the B+. |
| Dan
Lacouture #39, LW |
10:34 | B | Got into a fight with recent ex-Ranger John Tripp in
the 2nd. Decent fight, actually, a few big shots landed by each. I've
liked the way Lacouture has been playing since coming back from his
injury. At least, I seem to be noticing him more for whatever reason. |
| Jed Ortmeyer #41, RW |
13:54 | B | For the season that's now one goal for Ortmeyer on the opposing net, one on his own net as he deflected in a cross-slot pass on the PK past Markannen. Easily his most active offensive game of the season. You rarely see him make plays in the offensive zone and tonight he did at least three separate times. although he strangely wasn't credited with any shots. |
|
|
|||
| COACHING STAFF: | x | Seemed to be shifting those ice times around a bit.
Rheaume got some extra shifts, Hlavac got less, Kovalev with a few
extra shifts as well, some line changes, once in a while I noticed
Leetch with de Vries, it was hard to keep track. No coaching grade
because they didn't seem to have much effect on the game positively or
negatively. |
|
| |
|||
| 1st PERIOD: | C | Weird, annoying, but very entertaining period. Lots
of rushes up and down the ice, several good scoring chances for both
teams and three power plays for the Kings, two for the Rangers. NY had
all the early momentum as they seemed to be tossing the puck around on
a string while the Kings still looked in pre-game mode, but that
changed quickly. It seemed like they were playing the period on Olympic
sized ice as every skater on both teams had room to make moves and
create odd man rushes. Shots 13-10 Kings. |
|
| 2nd PERIOD: | B | Another fun period. Both
teams are working hard and playing a good game. Rangers had a fairly
dominating period, believe it or not, even though they were outshot
9-5. It's just that the Kings were VERY strong on their checks and
assignments. Rangers controlled the puck most of the period but never
could seem to get a good shooting lane. Markannen didn't have many, if
any, tense moments. |
|
| 3rd PERIOD: | A- | Rangers were very much in control of this period, got
the equalizer from Messier at 8:47 but then took two minors in a row
and it was close your eyes and hang on time from there on out in a wild
finish to the 3rd with both teams an inch away from a goal several
times. Whoo. Fun stuff. Can these teams play more often? Markannen was
the big man on those two PK's, but you have to credit for the Rangers
being timely once again. |
|
| OVERALL: | A- |
Deja
vu. Second in a row OT win after trailing in the 3rd. While not the
most stable, it sure is a fun way to win games. And, really, I thought
the Rangers deserved to win, anyway. After a shaky 1st period, NY had
the majority of the momentum the rest of the way, although the Kings
certainly had their flurries of chances. The way they're winning games
lately is a double edged sword. Either the Rangers are going to think
they can just turn it on in the 3rd period when they want, or hopefully
they'll take these gutty, come from behind road wins and allow it to
build team confidence and togetherness. Did you notice how many ear to
ear smiles there were when the team mobbed Poti after the game winner?
That could be a very positive sign, and yet... these are the Rangers.
I'm not going to assume anything. Also, I forgot to mention it last night - Happy 4th Anniversary to the Report Card. The first report card was done for a 4-3 OT loss in Dallas on 12/29/99. A printed version now hangs in the Smithsonian in their wing of "Useless Internet Crap". |
|
| Scratches: | Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Anson Carter (ribs) Darius Kasparaitis (ribs) Jamie Lundmark (knee - IR) Dale Purinton (healthy) |
||
| created by: | Pete Rocha, © 2003. procha@optonline.net | ||
| Discuss the card here | |||
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