The Duke earns a hat trick

Anthony Duclair (thechronicleherald.ca)

It is the weekend before the holiday break for those New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects who are not invited to try out for their national junior team. For one prospect it was a chance to send a message that perhaps he had deserved some consideration for an invite.

The rest of the prospects might prefer that I don't write about their Friday night as it got ugly for a few of them.

Tonight's Star Anthony Duclair Quebec Remparts

Last week Anthony Duclair (NYR 2013 3rd) earned the 3rd star from the QMJHL for his play. Friday night "the Duke" sent notice that he would be interested in a repeat performance as the Quebec Rempart's forward had a 4 point night to lead his Quebec Remparts to a 7-3 win over the Gatineau Olympiques.

Duclair rolled registering his 2nd hat trick of the season as well as his 2nd four point performance of the season. The night actually started pretty innocently with Duclair posting his 25th goal of the season at 6:25 of the 1st period. It was an even strength goal which was scored just 36 seconds after Quebec had opened the scoring and the goal gave Quebec a 2-0 lead.

Yet 2:47 later at 9:12 it was Duclair striking again for his 26th goal and a 3-0 Quebec lead. In the 2nd period with the Remparts up 5-0, the Duke would complete the hat trick with a shorthanded marker for goal number 27 at 13:44 and a 6-0 Quebec lead. Duclair would finish the evening with a secondary assist on Quebec's 7th goal which came in the 3rd period at 10:47.

Duclair with his 4 point evening earned the game's 1st star and the 3rd star from Yahoo's Buzzing The Net where they wrote:

Duclair knocked the wind out of the Gatineau Olympiques very early in the game. Already up 1-0, the New York Rangers prospect scored two quick goals in the first period to give the Ramparts the stranglehold on the contest. He went onto complete his hat trick late in the middle frame and helped set up a Kurt Etchegary marker in the third period, which turned out to be the 7-3 contest’s last goal.

Playing the numbers, Duclair's 4 points improved him to 27-19-46 which is good for 9th in the QMJHL (his 27 goals are 3rd best). Duclair's 4 points were on 3 shots and a +2 as well as 2 minors and 1-1 on faceoffs as his Remparts won their 3rd straight game. The shorthanded goal was Duclair's 3rd on the season.

The rest of the prospects

Ryan Graves (NYR 2013 4th) had a secondary assist as his Charlottetown Islanders ended a 9 game winless streak with a 2-1 win over the Saint John Sea Dogs. Graves assist came on the Islanders first goal of the game which tied the game at 1-1 in the 3rd period.

For Graves it was his 6th assist of the season and 9th overall point but more importantly for the Islanders it ended a prolonged winless streak that saw the team fall below the 500 mark and into 13th place in the QMJHL.

Adam Tambellini (NYR 2013 3rd) was scoreless as North Dakota defeated Northern Michigan 4-1. It was the 4th straight win for North Dakota who moved over the 500 mark with a 8-7-2 record.

Jesse Graham (NYI 2012 6th) recorded the only assist on his Saginaw Spirits 2nd goal but the Spirits lost 5-2 to the Peterborough Petes. It was a shorthanded goal as Graham recorded his 7th assist since joining the Spirit and is 6-18-24 on the season.

Victor Crus-Rydberg (NYI 2013 5th) was scoreless with a minor for interference as his Plymouth Whalers let a 2-0 3rd period lead slip away for a 3-2 loss to the Sarnia Sting. The loss extended Plymouth's winless streak to 7 games (0-5-0-2).

Loic Leduc (NYI 2012 4th) was scoreless as his Cape Breton Screaming Eagle's 5 game winning streak ended with a 3-2 loss to the Moncton Wildcats. Leduc was quiet other than a couple of hits in the game.

Ryan Pulock (NYI 2013 1st) and his Brandon Wheat Kings might still be wondering what happened as they had a 5-3 lead over the WHL leading Kelowna Rockets going into the game's final minute. The Rockets scored twice in the final minute (19:22 and 19:51) to force overtime then added insult to injury by scoring in overtime to steal a 6-5 win over Pulock's Wheat Kings.

Pulock was scoreless and a -1 for the game.

Mackenzie Skapski (NYR 2013 6th) gave up 3 goals on 29 shots as his Kootenay Ice were shut out 4-0 by the Red Deer Rebels. Skapski is 8-9-2 with a 2.93 goals against and a 0.905 save percentage.

Kyle Burroughs (NYI 2013 7th) missed his 4th straight game for his Regina Pats and was ruled out of action at least until the Pats return from holiday break. Stephon Williams (NYI 2013 4th) was the backup goalie for his Minnesota State Mavericks.