Rangers Roll Over Pathetic Pens
January 29, 2006
Wow…I had been reading about all of the Penguins woes with Mario and Ziggy retiring, the firing of Eddie O, and that they had lost 10 of their last 11 games. But nothing prepared me for the awful display I saw at MSG yesterday. To put it simply, this was the worst showing by an NHL that I’ve seen since the last expansion…maybe even worse since at least those teams had a few guys who tried.
The final score was 7-1, but the shots tell a better story. The Rangers finished with 51 shots to the Pens 14. Their largest shot differential since 1975. The second half of the game was just a practice for the Rangers with one difference…no contact. The Pens stopped skating, stopped checking and let the Rangers do whatever they wanted. Fleury looked tired and frustrated and let in many soft goals after he realized his team was leaving him out to dry.
If I had to pick a goal to sum up this game it would Jagr’s tap in from Malik. Malik skated in from the slot and THREE Pens went after him, but instead of taking the body they stood still and swatted at the puck. I said Malik skated, but it was really coasting…he just kept going in and it looked like a bunch of six year olds playing bumble bee hockey…everyone swarming around the puck instead of playing positions and, of course, no checking. Malik lost the puck once, but quickly got it back and made an easy pass to Jagr who was sitting all alone next to the left post where he made an easy tap in. The Pens were supposed to be playing man-to-man coverage yet they left Jagr, of all players, wide open.
Tom Renney would be wise to throw out this game tape because no other team in the league will gift wrap a game and hand it over. Next up is a battle witht he division leading Flyers on Monday. I’ll be in NYC this week and am going to try to score some tickets. If that fails then at least I’ll be in a hometown bar to watch the game.
As for the Pens…this team is in big trouble. Fleury excelled in the AHL and I believe he can do the same in the NHL, but he needs a team that is willing to play defense otherwise his head just isn’t in the game. The young kids on this team are looking frustrated and they need to be surrounded with GOOD influences. It’s time for this organization to take stock of who is on their roster and to cutout the dead weight. Unfortunately, it seems like Mario is washing his hands of the whole mess and is going to leave the hard work to whoever buys this lemon off of him. Lemieux’s retirement should have been a time of celebration for an amazing career, but instead it just reeks of someone cutting his losses and running and judging by the play of his former teammates I think they feel the same way.
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