Win Some Lose Some

Just 3 games on a Friday night for the New York Ranger and New York Islander prospects with 2 seeing wins and 1 seeing a game 1 upset loss. Show up to play as if each game is your elimination game if you want to win those 16 games to earn a championship ring.

Ryan Graves (NYR 2013 4th) and his Val-d'Or Foreurs made that mistake in their QMJHL series opener against the Drummondville Voltigeurs and it cost them a 4-3 overtime loss on home ice. Maybe that is the after affects of the way the QMJHL playoffs are set up as the 3rd seeded Foreurs played the team that was seeded 14th in the first round and had little trouble with them.

Now they are facing the 6th seeded team in the 2nd round and there was a major difference in talent. The Voltigeurs jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st period and a 3-1 lead after two periods. If not for a face saving goal with just 34 seconds remaining in regulation then Drummondville would have taken this in regulation instead overtime.

Ryan Graves had an nice but not awesome game for the Foreurs as he got the primary assist on the game tying goal in the 3rd period for his 2nd point of the playoffs but he didn't record any hits and was just a +1. The entire Foreurs team I am pretty sure got the message with the overtime loss so it will be interesting to see how they respond on Saturday night in game 2.

Teammates Adam Pelech (NYI 2012 3rd) and Troy Donnay (NYR 2013 UFA) were scoreless as their Erie Otters defeated the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 4-0 to take a 2-0 series lead in their OHL Western Conference Semifinal series. Pelech was a +1 while Donnay was even but both took minor penalties that they need to be more careful about taking.

Pelech took a "checking from behind" while Donnay was called for "check to the head" but the Otters killed those penalties and the other 5 power plays that the Greyhounds received. Now the series shifts to Erie for games 3 and 4 on Monday and Tuesday.

Write down the name Devin Williams who is a goalie for the Erie Otters and here is a kid who is going to slip through several draft lists but would be worth a 5th or 6th round pick on. Right now Williams is 6-0-1 with a 2.20 Goals Against and a 0.923 save percentage. Did I mention that Williams finished the regular season 23-5-0-1 with a 2.57 Goals Against and a 0.905 Save Percentage?

Loic Leduc (NYI 2012 4th) was scoreless as his Rimouski Oceanic took game 2 of their QMJHL 2nd round playoff series against the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada with a 3-0 shutout. The win puts the Oceanic up 2-0 in the series as Leduc was +1 on 1 shot and a minor for hooking. The series will now shift to Blainville-Boisbriand for games 3 and 4 starting on Tuesday.