Hockeybird.com: Report Card: PHI 4 @ NYR 2

Report Card: PHI 4 @ NYR 2

Thursday - January 22, 2004

01/22/04	1	2	3	OT	F
	1	2	1		4
	1	1	0		2

Goalie	GA/SH	Grade	Comments
Mike Dunham #30, G	3/20	C-	Didn't have to do much in the first half of the 1st period, but as the shots started coming Dunham still looks shaky. Can't fault him on the Flyers' first goal, Kapanen (who's slumping again this season but ALWAYS scores against the Rangers, damnit) was wide open when he got the puck and beat Dunham from about 15 feet out. Flyers second goal was a wide shot, Dunham took too long in reacting and getting to the other side. Flyers third, rebound-o-rama (what else?), back into the slot, a Flyer skates in from the point, grabs the rebound and puts the backhand in. Didn't start the 3rd period, the Rangers are saying mild concussion. Dunham was like one of those pieces of pitch-back baseball equipment tonight. Either that or his pads were made of Superballs. Seemed like every shot sprang back out 10-15 feet. That "C-" is boderline "D+", but what's the difference? He wasn't good.
Jussi Markkanen #40, G	1/7	X	Came out for the 3rd, Flyers on the PP, a bouncing deflection from about 5 feet out bounces by him on the very first shot. Nice save stopping a Gagne breakaway a little later, which must've been the first breakaway against the Rangers that didn't go in in three weeks. Great glove save later in the period. Nothing to really grade here since he only faced 7 shots, but I thought he looked MUCH more confident and reliable than Dunham.
Defenseman	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Brian Leetch #2, LD	21:14	C-	Putzed around with the puck in the neutral zone, stripped from him, Flyers 3-on-1 the other way. Great redirection down low for a PP goal, very similar to the Poti from Leetch PP goal last week. Yeah, he scored again tonight just like on Tuesday, and that is worth something, but outside of those goals his play has been brutal. His passes are missing, his decisions are slow, turnovers, etc. On the ice for 2 against. -10 in his last 11 games.
Lawrence Nycholat #28, RD	15:52	C+	Nycholat wasn't Leetch's consistent partner. In the 1st period alone I saw both Purinton and Bouchard out there with Brian. Doing report cards with ESPN games is always difficult because of Gary Thorne constantly getting the names wrong, but Nycholat looked okay. At least, I didn't see any major mistakes.
Vladimir Malakhov #23, LD	22:50	C+	3 shots in the 1st period? I don't recall any of them. Pretty sneaky, Vladimir. He was okay, as was Boris, and they got the first pair minutes.
Boris Mironov #29, RD	23:12	C+	Him and Vlad seemed to get mixed up a bit on the Flyers' third. Led the team in ice time. Like Vlad not great (both were out for 2 against, 1 for), but at least not awful.
Joel Bouchard #74, LD	16:21	D	Another rough game. Against these big teams he's getting the crap kicked out of him in the corners and constantly, CONSTANTLY losing the puck.
Dale Purinton #5, RD	15:03	C+	I didn't notice anything particularly bad. Not good, either (Dale has a major problem getting the puck out of the zone cleanly), but at least not bad.
Forward	Ice Time	Grade	Comments
Bobby Holik #16, C	16:47	F	Hello? Bobby? And don't give me this bullshit about Sather misusing him and that's why Holik has been so incredibly unnoticable lately. Even if he is being misused, he was still out there for nearly 17 minutes, so don't anyone dare tell me he had his hands tied!! He mostly phoned the game in, just like the last two. I have a feeling he's sick of being here and that's affecting his play. That's no excuse, though.
Martin Rucinsky #26, LW	17:41	B-	Hit Kovalev with that breakaway pass in the 1st. Took an elbowing call in the 2nd and by the replay from the ref's helmet cam (I'm serious), it looked like an AWFUL call. Drew a hooking call a few minutes later. Later in the period took a double minor for high sticking, this one he deserved (although probably not a double minor. I thought drawing blood didn't matter anymore).
Alexei Kovalev #27, RW	17:50	F	8 minutes into the game and I want to kill him already. HORRID behind the back pass just inside the blueline leading to a Flyers 3-on-2. Later was sprung on a blueline-in breakaway and shot it wide! 2nd period PP, bad angle shot, missed the net by about 5 feet and the puck wrapped out of the zone. Just super. 3rd period got frustrated with being checked and took a selfish hooking penalty in the offensive zone to cap off his ultra-crappy evening.
Petr Nedved #93, C	17:29	D-	Kapanen, the Flyers first goal scorer, was most likely Nedved's check. At least, Nedved was the one closest to him and the slowest to react. Sloppy all night, in fact. Petr doesn't like playing against these big, physical teams. Never did. After a brief streak of good play a few weeks ago, he's firmly back in the doghouse. What a waste of talent.
Jan Hlavac #37, LW	14:30	C	At least he had 3 shots. Second on the team. Yay.
Anson Carter #22, RW	17:13	B+	Hung around the net, found the rebound and slid it past Esche and did his signature fist pump afterwards. If the Rangers have a chance tonight they'll need people like Carter to step up and so far, so good. Also a nice fake shot pass to Leetch down low on the PP for the redirected goal, 2nd period. A few great chances in the 3rd, too. The best Ranger tonight by a mile. Kind of inexplicable given his recent weeks of floating, but whatever. 2 points, 2 shots.
Mark Messier #11, C	14:31	D	Oh, he picked up his effort a little bit from his usual floaty performance. A. Little. Bit. Instead of floating for 60 minutes, he floated for 55.
Chris Simon #17, LW	12:50	D+	Not much. One good shot, can't remember many hits.
Matthew Barnaby #36, RW	10:14	F	A big, fat NOTHING. I realize Barnaby isn't Jari Kurri, but he's supposed to be one of the "energy" and "heart" guys. So, where was it? Didn't do anything, and I do mean anything. No shots, -1.
Pascal Rheaume #20, C	11:59	C+	I've got nothing on these guys, Rheaume, Lacouture and Ortmeyer. They all played fairly hard, but they're all also about as offensively inept as they come.
Dan Lacouture #39, LW	11:02	C+	I had chicken for dinner. It was okay. I give it a "B-".
Jed Ortmeyer #41, RW	13:10	C+	Last night I had eggplant. That was a little better than the chicken. "B".

COACHING STAFF:		F	Why go with Dunham again? Why why why. Whatever. I'm getting a headache just thinking about it. If he doesn't shake this team up majorly before Saturday against Ottawa, I don't think I'll even tune in.

1st PERIOD:		B	Too bad. Despite being without three regular defensemen and their best forward in Lindros, the Rangers played a relatively crisp, smart 1st period which was ruined at the end by a late Flyer goal. They're moving the puck quickly and playing safe... well, besides Kovalev and Leetch, that is, who continue to make risky, stupid plays. Shots 9-7 NY.
2nd PERIOD:		C-	Not as crisp as the 1st. In fact, the Ranger defensemen (especially Bouchard) are getting pushed around and the forwards aren't helping. LOTS of chances for the Flyers as their 13-8 shot advantage indicates. Rangers offense has also gone dead. Things are crumbling.
3rd PERIOD:		C	Flyers scored on the PP 34 seconds in and it was over. Flyers shut it down, Rangers couldn't get ANYTHING going. Shots 8-7 Rangers.
OVERALL:		D+	I thought they played worse against Boston on Tuesday night, for what it's worth. Their top players - Leetch, Holik, Kovalev, Nedved - were all quite poor and their foot soldiers like Barnaby and Simon didn't bring anywhere NEAR the amount of energy needed. If it weren't for Anson Carter I'm not sure the Rangers would've had shown ANY effort. I'd imagine I'm feeling much like you are tonight, I don't even have the energy or desire to rant and complain about it. I'm considering turning the Report Card into a movie review sheet, grading the movies I've watched in the last week. Or maybe I'll just lease the space for classified ads. Rangers need a trade or trades just for their own sake because interest is getting close to rock bottom. I'm not going to keep watching this, at least not like I have been.
Scratches:			Pavel Bure (knee - IR) Greg de Vries (knee - IR) Darius Kasparaitis (knee - IR) Bryce Lampman (healthy? injured? conflicting reports) Eric Lindros (flu) Jamie Lundmark (knee - IR) Tom Poti (melancholy)
created by:			Pete Rocha, © 2004. procha@optonline.net
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Posted by pete at January 22, 2004 10:40 PM
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Posted by: Tester on December 8, 2004 09:07 AM