Garand Earns Third Star In Win

Dylan Garand (Kamloops Blazers)

After an insanely entertaining Friday, Saturday was rather tame for the 10 New York Ranger prospects who saw action.While the numbers don't show it, it was the efforts that made the difference this evening.

Dylan Garand had a solid and very effective night as his Kamloops Blazers staged a third period comeback to steal a 3-2 win over the Prince George Cougars. The game's third star, Garand stopped 23 out of 25 shots to earn his 19th win of the season.

Compared to Prince George's goalie Ty Young who stopped 45 out of 48 shots faced, Garand went extended periods without facing any shots. Kamloops limited Prince George to just two shots in the first period, 17 in the second, and just six in the third.

But while Prince George didn't have the quantity of scoring chances, they made up for it in the quality as when called upon, Garand made some quality saves.

With the win, Garand improved to 19-6 with a 2.04 goals against, a 0.925 save percentage and that put him back in front of WHL goalies in wins and goals against. Garand is in second when it comes to save percentage.

Ryder Korczak (Moose Jaw Warriors)

Ryder Korczak and Jayden Grubbe may be New York Ranger 2021 third-round draft picks but that meant nothing when Korczak's Moose Jaw Warriors faced Grubbe's Red Deer Rebels. Korczak's Warriors held off Grubbe's Rebels 5-4 in a very intense matchup for the two teams. 

The two prospects had a couple of run-ins with each other and Grubbe had to be pulled off Korczak when Korczak was in a wrestling match late in the game. Korczak had just scored an empty-net goal to put his team up 5-3. 

The two exchanged some angry words but Korczak should be happy someone got between him and Grubbe since Grubbe has five inches and 27 lbs. Korczak was 1-1-2 on three shots and a +1 with a roughing minor and was 9-9 on faceoffs.

Grubbe was scoreless on three shots with a -1, a minor for boarding, and was 11-5 on his faceoffs. Korczak with the two points is now 14-31-45 on the season.

Brennan Othmann (Natalie Shaver)

Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds put a 7-1 spanking on the Kitchener Rangers for the Firebirds third straight win. Othmann recorded two assists to raise his season totals to 27-26- 53 which is sixth best in the OHL.

Othmann had the secondary assist on the game-winning goal and the primary assist on Flint's fourth goal of the game. The points extends Othmann's scoring streak to four games (4-7-11) and he has points in seven of his last eight games (7-9-17).

Hugo Ollas did not get the start but had to come into the game when starter Zachary Borgiel was injured in the third period. Ollas and his Merrimack Warriors made it a two-game sweep as they defeated ninth-ranked UMass-Lowell 3-2.

Ollas played 11:14 making four saves as his team won their fifth straight to pull into a tie with the Providence Friars for fourth place in the Hockey East. Ollas improved his goals against to 2.26 and his save percentage to 0.915.

Hank Kempf was scoreless as his eighth-ranked Cornell Big Red defeated top-ranked Quinnipiac in overtime 2-1. Kempf was scoreless on one shot as his team bounced back from an embarrassing loss on Friday to lowly Princeton to defeat the first-place team in the ECAC.

Brett Beard was scoreless as his Providence Friars played to a 1-1 tie with Boston College. Providence won the shootout round 2-1 to earn the game's extra point. 

Berard was credited with just two shots and a minor for "embellishing" aka "diving".

Simon Kjellberg and his Rensselaer Engineers dropped their second straight game to a (now) four-win team as they lost to Brown by a 3-2 score. Kjellberg had a primary assist for his 11th assist and his 15th overall point (4-11-15).

Besides the assist, Kjellberg was credited for one shot and was a -1.

Evan Vierling was scoreless as his Barrie Colts needed overtime to defeat the North Bay Battalion 3-2. Vierling had a very quiet night with just a 2-6 record on his faceoffs.

Matt Rempe and his Seattle Thunderbirds ran into a very hot Portland Winterhawks team and dropped a 4-1 decision. Portland is unbeaten in their last 10 regulation games and they dominated Seattle. 

Rempe was a non-factor because of the Winterhawks' speed as he was scoreless on just one shot with a -2 and was 1-6 on his faceoffs.

Riley Hughes and his 13th-ranked Northeastern Huskies got spanked 6-0 by 12th-ranked Massachusetts in Hockey East action. Hughes was credited with one shot and a minor for roughing for his efforts in this game.

Brody Lamb and his Green Bay Gamblers were beaten 6-1 by the Dubuque Fighting Saints in USHL action. Lamb was scoreless on one shot and a -1.

Did Not Play

Talyn Boyko and his Kelowna Rockets saw their game against Vancouver postponed due to the Rockets being in Covid protocol.