On Henrik Lundqvist night, it was kind of fitting that two New York Ranger goalie prospects helped to lead their teams to wins. But the player who I thought was the key player on Friday night for some reason did not earn a star despite scoring the game's biggest goals.
Ryder Korczak had a 1-1-2 evening as his Moose Jaw Warriors earned their fifth straight win coming from behind to defeat the Winnipeg Ice 5-4 in the shootout. It was Korczak's goal at 17:01 of the third period that tied the game at 4-4 and forced overtime.
Ryder Korczak with his 15th goal and 50th point of the season to tie the game!!#AllInTogether | @Korzy19 pic.twitter.com/Sjh8l5JDEn
— Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) January 29, 2022
Korczak who had the secondary assist on the Warrior's third goal improved his season totals to 15-36-51 which is second-best on his Warriors' team. The 51 points enter Korczak into the WHL's top ten in scoring at number 10.
The 36 assists are third-best in the WHL as Korczak is looking like a bargain as just a third-round pick. But Korczak wasn't done with the heroics as in the shootout with his team up 1-0 after two rounds of the shootout, Korczak had a chance to finish off the Ice.
CHECKMATE!♟
— The WHL (@TheWHL) January 29, 2022
Ryder Korczak finishes off a @MJWARRIORS shootout win in thrilling fashion!@NYRangers pic.twitter.com/2y6An2dmGV
The Warriors trail third-place Red Deer by seven points in the WHL's Eastern Conference, they still have a chance somewhat slim to catch the three ahead of them but proved that they can play with all three.
Speaking of Red Deer, whoever lit a fire under the Red Deer captain Jayden Grubbe deserves a steak dinner on the Rangers. The game's first star, Grubbe was a monster on the ice from hitting everything that moved on the ice to go 13-9 on his faceoffs and scoring his eighth goal of the season on a game-high six shots.
Maybe Grubbe's knee finally feels good or whatever, this version of Jayden Grubbe is exactly the kind of physical power forward that the Rangers so badly need. Red Deer uses him against the other team's best center, plays him on the first power play and penalty kill units.
Oh and the goal
Bains with the slick feed to the Captain for his 56th point of the season!#RDREBELS #WHL pic.twitter.com/knFTglrwct
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) January 29, 2022
Imagine trying to stop who is built like the New York Islanders Anders Lee coming down the slot at you? Lee is the best comparison I can make to Grubbe who is now 8-11-19.
Talyn Boyko earned his first WHL shutout as a member of the Kelowna Rockets after he stopped all 25 shots that the Vancouver Giants fired at him as the Rockets had little trouble with the Giants earning a 6-0 win. The game's second star, Boyko really wasn't tested by the Giants as he was aided by a strong Kelowna defense which limited the Giants to 0 for 5 on the power play.
Still, it is just the second shutout in Boyko's WHL career and it gives the Rockets a four-game winning streak as they chase Seattle for the fourth playoff seed in the WHL's Western Conference. The Rockets are six points behind Seattle but hold three games in hand.
The WHL stats for some reason have not updated Boyko's stats but I believe after Friday not, Boyko is 15-11-2-1 with a four game winning streak. Since the trade from Tri-City where Boyko was 1-6-1, Boyko is 14-5-1-1.
Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds came from behind twice before finally defeating the Soo Greyhounds in overtime 5-4. Othmann had a quiet game by his standards with just his 28th goal to show for the night.
The captain of the Firebirds extended his scoring streak to five games with the goal which came at 1:06 of the third period and tied the game up at 3-3. Othmann is 28-26-54 which is sixth in OHL scoring while the 28th goal is second best in the OHL.
Dylan Garand had a really easy night as his Kamloops Blazers just dominated Victoria Royals 6-1. Garand faced a total of 11 shots for the entire game (Three in first, five in second, three in third) as the Blazers scored three times in the opening 5:07 of the first period and this game was over.
For Garand, the win improves his record to 21-6 tops in the WHL. Garand saw his goals-against lower to 1.96 (first in WHL) and his save percentage to 0.928 (second in the WHL).
Brett Berard and his Providence Friars edged eighth-ranked Massachusetts 2-1 in Hockey East Action. Berard was scoreless and did not record any shots but was called for a slashing minor at the end of the first period.
The win gave the Friars third place in Hockey East and pulled them to within three points of second-place Massachusetts.
Will Cuylle had a quiet night as his Windsor Spitfires edged the Guelph Storm 3-2. Cuylle was scoreless on four shots with a -1 and was 3-1 on faceoffs.
Brody Lamb and his Green Bay Gamblers dropped their second straight game 5-4 to the Muskegon Lumberjacks. Lamb had a primary assist along with minors for roughing and cross-checking.
Lamb is 10-8-18 on the season but his Gamblers fell to 15-15-2-1 in sixth place of the USHL's Eastern Conference. The Gamblers are five points out of a playoff spot with three games in hand.
Riley Hughes and his 15th-ranked Northeastern Huskies dropped a 2-1 decision to 14th-ranked UMass-Lowell in Hockey East action. Hughes was scoreless on just one shot with a minor for hooking as the Huskies dropped their third straight.
Hank Kempf and his ninth-ranked Cornell Big Red played to a 2-2 overtime tie with Dartmouth as Dartmouth earned the extra standings point via the shootout. Kempf had a quiet night going scoreless and taking just three shots.
Did Not Play
Matthew Rempe missed his second straight game for the Seattle Thunderbirds. The T-birds have been hit hard by Covid but there has been no word as to whether Rempe has it or not.
No comments:
Post a Comment