Staying alive

What a great way to spend a Sunday as we got to watch several New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects put on great performances and we snuck in a telephone conversation with 2011 New York Ranger first-round pick JT Miller (sorry it is for the Blueshirt Bulletin).

Andrew Yogan (NYR 2010 3rd) and Peter Ceresnak (NYR 2011 6th) combined for a 2-3-5 +3 day to help their Peterborough Petes earn a 4-3 win over the Belleville Bulls. The win helps the Petes remain alive in the OHL Eastern Conference race for a playoff spot as they are in a virtual tie for 8th with Belleville (holds 2 games in hand) and just 1 point behind Oshawa for 7th (1 game in hand).

It was Yogan who had the big game going 2-1-3 and earning the games first star for his efforts. We have been hard on Yogan all season long but to give him his rightful credit; Yogan has had an excellent February going 8-9-17 to improve his stats to 31-30-61 on the season (2nd in goals 3rd in points among NYR prospects).

Yogan spotted his Petes a 1-0 lead with his 30th goal of the season just 2:14 into the game. After Belleville had tied the game, Yogan using his 31st goal of the season regain the lead for the Petes in the second period at 2-1.

Finally Yogan got a secondary assist (his 30th) on what proved to be the game-winning goal for the Petes in the third period as they held on for the win. Ceresnak had two secondary assists during a game as he has been on a mini run going 2-2-4 in his last 3 games as he is now 6-9-15.

Staying in the OHL, Andrey Pedan (NYI 2011 3rd) and his Guelph Storm finally got a break. The Storm defeated the Kitchener Rangers 6-3 and were able to jump past Sault Ste. Marie for 8th place in the OHL's Western Conference.

Pedan was scoreless and took two minor penalties which did not result in Kitchener power-play goals. The win gives Guelph and one point lead of the Sault Ste. Marie but Guelph holds two games in hand on them.

Ryan Strome (NYI 2011 1st) scored his 23rd goal of the season as part of his Niagara IceDogs scoring six goals in the first period as the IceDogs cruised to a easy 9-3 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs.

Mitchell Theoret (NYI 2011 7th) was scoreless and somehow found a way to be a -1 in this whipping. For Strome, he improves to 23-30-53 on the season.

In the QMJHL, Kirill Kabanov (NYI 2010 3rd) and his Shawinigan Cataractes had little trouble with the Moncton Wildcats shutting them out 5-0. Kabanov was scoreless on 5 shots, went 2 for 2 winning face-offs and was credited with a hit.

The Cataractes actually wound up doing Samuel Noreau (NYR 2011 5th) and his Baie-Comeau Drakkar a favor by beating the Wildcats because Noreau and his Drakkar use the opportunity to move past the Wildcats into a tie for ninth with the Acadi-Bathurst Titan.

The Drakkar defeated the Titan 5-3 as Noreau was scoreless A- 1, on shot, and his seventh fighting major of the year.

The worst thing about a slump is that the longer it goes then the more other people notice that you are in a slump. The second worst thing about being a slump is when a chance to not only break this long slump but also make a big play that you team needs and you don't then everybody keys on that play.

Such was the fate of Shane McColgan (NYR 2011 5th) as his goalless streak has now reached 11 games after his Kelowna Rockets ended a road trip to the province of Alberta with a 2-1 loss to the Calgary Hitmen. And we are pretty sure for McColgan; he is going to see a late third period breakaway that could've tied the game only McColgan shot right off the post.

It was a key moment in the game and sadly for McColgan he missed out on his chance to tie the game and break his goalless streak. McColgan did get a secondary assist on Kelowna's only goal the game which brings him to 15-44-59 as Kelowna finished their trip 1-2-0-1.

In Edmonton, Michael St. Croix (NYR 2011 4th) was held scoreless as his Edmonton Oil Kings really did not need him as they defeated the Lethbridge Hurricanes 4-1. Michael St. Croix saw his 5-game scoring streak come to an end (3-5-8) but they got the win which matters more.

Finally we finish off our Sunday in Penticton where once again Steven Fogarty (NYR 2011 3rd) did what he does best and that is score game-winning goals. Fogarty's 28th goal of the season gave his Penticton Vees a 2-1 lead late in the second period and that goal proved to be the game-winner as Penticton won their 37th straight game 4-1

For Fogarty, the goal was his 9th game-winner of the season which leads all Ranger prospects. As much as we like Michael St. Croix and those 95 points of his, Fogarty may only has 70 but his all round game has been so consistent that even when he doesn't score Fogarty has still found ways to have an impact defensively.

This goal was a breakaway that Fogarty scored unassisted.

(Andrew Yogan – Terry Wilson of OHL images)