Sunday, March 2, 2014

Big Games No Stars

It was a Saturday night full of big games but sadly none of the New York Ranger or New York Islander prospects stood out to help their team win. There were some big wins for some of the teams which in the short term is nice but we want to see the prospects stepping up and showing us what they can do when their team needs them the most.

Ryan Pulock (NYI 2013 1st)
came the closest to earning a star as the Brandon Wheat King defender had a goal to help the Wheat Kings earn a crucial 8-5 road win over the Saskatoon Blades. Pulock scored Brandon's 3rd goal of the game for his 21st goal of the season and 55th point as Brandon won their 3rd straight game. The Wheat Kings are a pretty solid 7th in the WHL's Eastern Conference ahead of 8th seeded Red Deer and 3 behind 6th seeded Swift Current.

Adam Tambellini (NYR 2013 3rd) and his Calgary Hitmen were in Edmonton to play Griffin Reinhart (NYI 2012 1st) and his Edmonton Oil Kings with the control of the WHL's Eastern Conference top spot at stake. Tambellini didn't score as his Hitmen teammates took advantage of some weak defensive play by the Oil Kings to earn a hard fought 3-2 win. The win moves Calgary into 1st place with a 1 point lead over the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Griffin Reinhart returned to the Oil King's lineup after missing time due to the flu but wasn't a real factor. Calgary now leads the WHL's Eastern Conference 93-91 but the Oil Kings hold 2 games in hand.

Kyle Burroughs (NYI 2013 7th) scored his 8th goal of the season to help his Regina Pats defeat the Moose Jaw Warriors 7-3. Burroughs scored Regina's 2nd goal of the game, an even strength goal in helping Regina win their 8th game in their last 10.
Burroughs at 8-31-39 +13 has been a key performer for the Pats who have charged to the top of the WHL's East Division.

Regina with 6 games left hold a 7 point lead over 2nd place Swift Current as they fight for the 2nd seed in the WHL's Eastern Conference.

Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 3rd) and his 14th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish gave their chances to earn an invite to the NCAA Men's Hockey Tournament a huge boost when they knocked off number 1 Boston College on the road 2-1 in overtime in the final regular season game of the Hockey East season for both teams.

Fogarty who was used as the first line center had a secondary assist on Notre Dame's first goal for his 5th assist and 8th overall point was a +1 on 1 shot and 4-9 on his faceoffs. Notre Dame's win gives them wins over 2 teams who were number 1 at the time they played them (Boston College, Minnesota) and this win improved their "Pairwise" number to 10 which is almost a lock for an "at large" bid.

Next up for Notre Dame will be a single elimination game in the Hockey East tournament against Doyle Somerby and Boston University next Saturday night in South Bend.

Loic Leduc (NYI 2012 4th) and his Rimouski Oceanic earned their 11th straight win with a 5-2 win over the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Leduc was scoreless on 1 shot and 2 hits as the Oceanic didn't play that great but still came away with the win.

Troy Donnay (NYR 2013 UFA) and Adam Pelech (NYI 2012 3rd) were both scoreless as their Erie Otters defeated Jesse Graham's (NYI 2012 6th) Saginaw Spirit 4-2. The win allowed the Otters to pull to withing 3 points of top seeded Guelph while leaping over idle London for the 3rd seed.

Jesse Graham had a secondary assist on Saginaw's 2nd goal and was a -2 for the Spirit.

Victor Crus Rydberg (NYI 2013 5th)
was scoreless as his Plymouth Whalers shut out the Windsor Spitfires 5-0. With just 6 games left Plymouth holds a 10 point lead over the 9th seeded Kitchener Rangers.

Brady Skjei (NYR 2012 1st) and teammate Taylor Cammarata (NYI 2012 3rd) were held scoreless as number 2 Minnesota had little trouble knocking off Penn State 3-2, Jake Bischoff (NYI 2012 7th) of Minnesota and Eamon McAdam (NYI 2013 3rd) were healthy scratches for their respective leagues.

Mackenzie Skapski (NYR 2013 6th)
gave up 4 goals on 27 shots as his Kootenay Ice lost to the Prince Albert Raiders 4-2. Skapski fell to 26-16-2-1 with a 2.68 goals against and a 0.917 save percentage.

Stephon Williams (NYI 2013 4th) was a healthy scratch for the Minnesota State Mavericks.

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