Battle Of The Titans

Brennan Othmann (Flint Firebirds)

It was Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds visiting Will Cuylle and his Windsor Spitfires and if you follow the Ranger prospects then this one didn't disappoint you. The teams were tied in the standings each with 36 points so both teams wanted this one.

Windsor won the game 6-3 but Othmann and Cuylle were big factors in this game. The game's third star, Othmann had a 2-1-3 effort while Cuylle was 0-3-3 with all of his assists were primary ones. 

Othmann got the scoring going when he found linemate, Zacharie Giroux who scored at the 3:19 mark of the first period.  Still in the first and Othmann took the puck away from Cuylle to start his team on the attack.

Othmann would get the puck in the high slot and he went top shelf for the goal and a 2-0 Firebirds lead at 12:17. It was Othmann's prospect leading 24th goal of the season and 44th point.

The Spitfires would come back with two goals. With the score at 2-1, Cuylle got his first assist with a gem of a play. This one here was special as you have to love the passing skills that Cuylle has for a power forward.

Pasquale Zito (@Pzito61) to the rescue! 🦸‍♂️

The @DetroitRedWings prospect notches his 13th of the season off the sweet feed from @NYRangers prospect Will Cuylle (@willcuylle), as the @SpitsHockey find themselves in a battle at home against the Firebirds 📽️ pic.twitter.com/Qcvg028VlX

— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) January 16, 2022

Cuylle somehow got the puck across the crease for the tying goal. A power-play goal coming at  14:35, it sent the game into the first intermission tied at 2-2.

In the second,  Othmann needed all of 16 seconds to break the tie as he buried a feed from teammate Tyler Deline to give his team a 2-1 lead. It was his second goal of the game and 25th of the season as it gave him a three-point game. The lead held until the 10:46 mark of the second period when Cuylle would register his second assist.

The Spitfires were on the power play and Cuylle with his linemate Wyatt Johnston played a passing game until they found linemate Pasquale Zito wind open and Zito went top shelf for the game-tying goal.

In the third with his team up 4-3, Cuylle earned his third assist of the game when he cycled the puck until he found teammate Matt Maggio in the slot for Windsor's fifth goal of the game. It was Cuylle's third straight game with three or more points (3-7-10). 

Othmann finished 2-1-3 on six shots with a +3 and 1-0 on faceoffs. He is now 25-20-45 in 30 games which is eight best in the OHL in points and third in goals. Cuylle was 0-3-3 on three shots with a -2, a minor for boarding, and 1-0 on faceoffs.

I was in Portland to see goalie Dylan Garand and his Kamloops Blazers play their third game in three nights What I got to see was a Kamloops team that barely had a thing in the gas tank. 

The Blazers had about 20 minutes of energy but after that, they were running on fumes. It also didn't hurt the Winterhawks that they changed their game to a physical hitting style and that wore the Blazers down.

📽️ SAVE OF THE NIGHT 📽️

Attn. @NYRangers we found a robber in our midst!@RealCdnSS | @blazerhockey | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/dd7fQZuydQ

— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 17, 2022

Yet as you can see not all was bad for Garand as he made a few plays like this despite stopping just 29 out of 33 shots. It wasn't his best night and when I got a chance to talk to him, I loved the fire he had inside of him. 

I am saying this here just as I told Garand in person that he will be the starter for Hartford by this time next season. Yes, he is that good as not every great NYR goalie has to be European. 

 Postgame, Garand saw his numbers go to 2.09 goals against, a save percentage of 0.923 and a record of 17-6-1-1. He remains second in the WHL in goals against and wins and third in save percentage. I want him as my goalie of the future.

There has to be something about being on the starting line for Brody Lamb of the Green Bay Gamblers. When he was just on it, Lamb had a five-game goal-scoring streak. But for some reason, they took Lamb off it for a couple of games and his scoring stopped. 

So Lamb was restored to the starting line against the Muskegon Lumberjacks and scored the only goal that the Gamblers scored. It took overtime but the Lumberjacks the extra session to defeat the Gamblers. 

Lamb earned his 10th goal of the season just 4:13 into the contest. It was part of a two-shot effort from Lamb who improved to 10-7-17 after 30 games.

Evan Vierling had two secondary assists as his Barrie Colts just spanked the North Bay Battalion 8-2. Vierling was his 0-2-2 on just one shot with a -1 and was 13-9 on faceoffs. 

That gives Veirling an 8-13-21 after 25 games. Not the superstar numbers but workable as well as a sign of hope for the future.

Jayden Grubbe was scoreless on three shots as his Red Deer Rebels defeated the Medicine Hat Tigers 5-2. But Grubbe still contributed as he was 15-8 on faceoffs as the Rebels took over third place in the WHL's Eastern Conference.

Ryder Korczak and his Moose Jaw Warriors ran into a buzzsaw of a team as Connor Bedard's Regina Pats used a four-goal first period to get the jump on the Warriors and never looked back for a 7-1 win.

Playing their third game in three nights didn't help the Warriors either. Korczak had the primary assist on Moose Jaw's only goal as part of a four-shot night that also had a -1 and he was 8-8 on his faceoffs.

Simon Kjellberg and his Rensselaer Engineers got spanked by Clarkson 5-0. It was a poor effort by the Engineers as they dropped their straight.