Three Ranger Prospects Saw Their Teams Lose

Ryder Korczak (Moose Jaw Warriors)

Three New York Ranger prospects saw action on Friday night but unlike Thursday when the three prospects led their teams to wins, the three in action saw their teams lose. A frustrating night to be sure but these nights do happen.

Ryder Korczak saw his career as a Moose Jaw Warrior most likely come to an end as his team was eliminated by the Winnipeg Ice 6-3 in game five. The Ice won the series 4-1 and are advancing to the WHL's Eastern Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Korczak didn't play bad scoring a goal and adding a secondary assist while going 14-6 on his faceoffs. He was however a -3. 

Korczak opened the scoring with his third goal of the playoffs just 46 seconds into the contest.

The @MJWARRIORS get a more than ideal start to Game Five at the hands of @NYRangers prospect, Ryder Korczak!#WHLPlayoffs | #WPGvsMJ pic.twitter.com/RETYTKFi6U

— The WHL (@TheWHL) May 14, 2022

In the second with his team on a power play but trailing 4-2, Korczak earned a secondary assist to cut the Ice lead to 4-3. But that was as close as the Warriors would get as their season comes to a close.

Korczak who was signed to his Entry-Level-contract by the Rangers last week finished his season with career bests in goals, assists, and points with a 25-54-79 season. He also won 56.4% of his faceoffs which increased his value to the Rangers.

During the playoffs, Korczak was 3-10-13 but he won 139 out of 210 faceoffs a very nice 66.2%. Any other year and I would say Korczak should be spending another year in the WHL improving his entire body as Korczak is a smaller-sized player. 

But the Rangers lack depth in Hartford and Korczak's face-off skills are badly needed. 

Matthew Rempe and his Seattle Thunderbirds find themselves on the brink of elimination after they dropped a 5-1 decision to the Portland Winterhawks. The Winterhawks lead the series 3-1 after the game four win. 

Rempe was scoreless on just one shot and a -1. He was 8-2 on his faceoffs but he needs to be much more active on the offensive end. One shot isn't enough and if the Thunderbirds want to extend the series then they need Rempe to use his size and brute strength against the smaller Winterhawks. 

Game five will be in Portland on Saturday night.

Dylan Garand and his Kamloops Blazers blew their chance to finish off the Vancouver Giants as they let a 2-1 third period lead disappear and lost game five  5-2. Garand stopped 21 out of 24 shots as the game turned in a 59 second span in the third period.

The Blazers acted like they expected the Giants to just roll over in the third period but the opposite happened. So now the series goes back to Vancouver for game six on Sunday.

Garand's record falls to 7-2 with a 2.16 goals against and a 0.925 save percentage.