Cuylle's Spitfires Earn OT Win Over Othmann's Firebirds

Will Cuylle (Windsor Spitfires)

Another busy Friday night for the New York Ranger prospects as 12 saw action. The night was highlighted by the battle of heavyweight goal scorers as Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds in Windsor to take on Will Cuylle and his Windsor Spitfires. 

Both teams happen to play in the OHL's West Division and even though there are over 20 games remaining in the regular season, these head-to-head matchups become increasingly important with each game. Flint came into this game leading the West Division and the OHL's Western Conference, Windsor was eight points behind but had four games in hand.

This one was as good as advertised with Cuylle's Spitfires earning a 5-4 overtime win. Cuylle got his team going with his 27th goal and 11th power-play to give the Spitfires a 1-0 lead. Somehow Cuylle was able to deflect a shot into the Flint goal coming at 1:53 of the first.

Windsor would score the game's first three goals carrying over to the second period before Othmann would start his team on a comeback. Windsor had gone on the rush but the shot they fired missed and Othmann found the puck in the neutral zone. 

Othmann carried the puck into the attacking zone and he fired a shot that beat the Windsor goalie for his 33rd goal of the season. Those were the only points either player would record in the game. 

Brennan Othmann (Flint Firebirds)

Sorry, Google said the highlights were too big to load here so here is the link to all the goals.

Cuylle improves to 27-20-47 on the season while Othmann is 33-32-64. The Spitfires improve to 5-0 on the season against the Firebirds but the Firebirds hold a six-point lead over the Spitfires in the standings.

Freshman goalie Hugo Ollas wasn't perfect but he was good enough to lead his Merrimack Warriors to a 3-2 win over Vermont in Hockey East action. Ollas stopped 29 out of 31 shots including the last 21 straight shots to earn his team-leading ninth win of the season.

A bad bounce resulted in Vermont earning a 1-0 lead 11:55 of the first period as nothing Ollas could do to prevent the goal. Then after Merrimack had scored to tie the game, Vermont scored shorthanded at 14:35 of the first. 

And that was it for Vermont as Ollas slammed the door shut to help his Warriors move into third place in Hockey East all by themselves. Even more unbelievable is that Merrimack with three games left in the conference schedule has a legit chance of winning the regular-season title and the first seed in the Hockey East conference.

Merrimack has never won the Hockey East championship in the 30 seasons as a member. Ollas is helping to change that as he improves to 9-4 with a 2.07 goals against and a 0.924 save percentage. Nationally the freshman goalie is 11th in goals against and 12th in save percentage. 

The game's first star Matthew Rempe was one assist short of a "Gordie Howe" hat trick as he helped his Seattle Thunderbirds win their sixth straight game 3-1 over the Spokane Chiefs.  Rempe's 12th goal of the season at 2:38 of the second broke a 1-1 tie and turned out to be Rempe's second game-winning goal of the season.

You are going to like this goal as Rempe picked up a loose puck in the crease and used his 6'9 size to his advantage to put the puck in the net.

Hi @ThomBeuning, we believe the correct terminology here is WINGSPAN.@SeattleTbirds | @NYRangers pic.twitter.com/98oMtGn56Z

— The WHL (@TheWHL) February 19, 2022

In addition, Rempe picked up his third fighting major when he dropped the gloves with Spokane's Grady Lane. Rempe took two shots earning a +1 with the fighting major and a roughing minor while going 7-5 on faceoffs. 

The Seattle center is 12-3-15 with 57 PIMs on the season.

Third star Talyn Boyko stopped 26 out of 28 shots to lead his Kelowna Rockets to a 3-2 road win over the Prince George Cougars. Boyko stole this win for the Rockets as he kept them in the game over three penalty kills where he stopped 11 shots to keep the game scoreless. 

Over the first and second periods, Boyko stopped 20 shots but gave up goals in the third while facing eight shots. Boyko improves to 19-12-2-1 on a 3.04 goals against and a 0.910 save percentage.

The Rangers 2021 fourth-round pick is sixth in the WHL for wins.

Evan Vierling returned to the Barrie Colts lineup after missing seven straight as the Colts defeated the Mississauga Steelheads 3-1. Vierling had two primary assists on three shots to go along with a +2 and an 8-3 record on faceoffs.

The assists came on Barrie's first and third goals, the first assist was Vierling digging the puck out of the corner and finding Anthony Tabak for a goal just 1:02 into the first period for a 1-0 lead. The other assist came with Barrie up 2-1 in the second and Vierling digging the puck off the sidewall and hitting teammate Ian Lemieux for the goal at 14:52.

Evan Vierling (@evan_vierling) fights off a check to draw a primary assist in his return to the lineup, setting up Anthony Tabak (@tabak_6) who strikes early in a second straight contest for the @OHLBarrieColts 🎥 pic.twitter.com/QZ8aMqOrhV

— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) February 19, 2022

For Vierling, the assists improve his season totals to 10-19-29 as he extends a delayed scoring streak to four games (2-5-7).

Junior defenseman Simon Kjellberg had two assists as his Rensselaer Engineers defeated the Brown Bears 4-2. Kjellberg had a primary assist as well as a secondary assist on one shot with a +3 and a tripping minor.

For the season, Kjellberg is 5-16-21 as he is Rensselaer's second-leading scorer.

Jayden Grubbe was scoreless on three shots as his Red Deer Rebels defeated the Saskatoon Blades 5-3. Grubbe may not have scored but he was 11-6 on faceoffs for his Rebels.

Brody Lamb had an assist but his Green Bay Gamblers lost to the Cedar Rapids Roughriders 4-2 in USHL action. Lamb is 1-3-4 in his last three games as he is now 13-11-24 on the season.

Riley Hughes and his Northeastern Huskies dropped a 4-1 decision to Boston College. Hughes was scoreless on three shots and a +1. 

Hank Kempf and his Cornell Big Red are struggling to find wins after dropping a 2-1 decision to St. Lawrence in ECAC action. Kempf was scoreless as he still has yet to score a goal at the NCAA level. 

Brett Berard and his Providence Friars continued their late-season struggles as they dropped a 3-2 to UMass-Lowell in Hockey East action. Berard was scoreless as even though he remains Providence's leading scorer, Berard has just one goal in his last eight games. 

Did Not Play

Dylan Garand did not even dress for his Kamloops Blazers as he is out due to a lower-body injury. Unknown at this time how long Garand will be out but it is a huge blow to the Blazers as they are fighting the Everett Silvertips for the WHL's Western Conference Championships. 

They are also trying to hold off Talyn Boyko and his Kelowna Rockets for the BC Division lead.