Garand Looks Grand In 6-0 Shutout Win

Dylan Garand (Kamloops Blazers)

Friday night saw seven New York Rangers in action. It was highlighted by the matchup between the two WHL goalie prospects. For the third straight weekend, Dylan Garand and his Kamloops Blazers took on Talyn Boyko and his Kelowna Rockets.

What was once a lopsided series has turned totally around. After Friday's 6-0 shutout of the Rockets, Kamloops has won the last five meetings. The game's first star, Dylan Garand stopped all 41 shots that he faced for his second straight shutout.

Garand's play was the best since his return from injury on March 11th. No matter what the Rockets tried, Garand was up for the task as he stopped every shot. 

Garand saw his season totals improve to 30-7 with a 1.98 goals against and a 0.929 save percentage. The shutout was Garand's fourth of the season, tying a career-best. Garand leads the WHL in goals against and is second in save percentage and wins.

The win was the ninth straight for the Blazers as they chase the Everett Silvertips for the WHL's Western Conference lead. The Blazers have a magic number one to clinch the WHL's BC Division title.

As for Talyn Boyko, the news is not good as he only lasted two periods and truthfully should have been pulled after the first period. Boyko surrendered five goals on 30 shots and while he had some good moments, they were very few.

The Blazers scored three times early in the first period and it clearly shook Boyko up. He had trouble with his reads, positioning, and looked like he was exhausted. Boyko saw his season totals drop to 24-18-2-3, a goals-against average of 3.12, and a save percentage of 0.907.

Boyko is 0-4-0-2 on his last six shots as his Rockets are winless in their last seven games 0-5-0-2. The same two teams meet again on Saturday, but it would be a surprise if Boyko got the start.

Matthew Rempe and his Seattle Thunderbirds opened up a six-point lead for the fourth seed in the WHL's Western Conference after a 5-2 win over the Vancouver Giants. Rempe was scoreless except for his sixth fighting major of the season. 

The 6'9 forward was scoreless on four shots with a +1, the fighting major, and 9-5 on his faceoffs.

Jayden Grubbe and his Red Deer Rebels are quietly strengthening their positioning for the upcoming WHL Eastern Conference playoffs. The Rebels were dominant after their 3-0 win over the Medicine Hat Tigers. 

Grubbe was scoreless with just one shot, but he was 11-5 on his faceoffs. 

Evan Vierling was scoreless as his Barrie Colts lost in overtime to the Oshawa Generals 3-2. Vierling was 10-6 on his faceoffs; he had a minor for hooking while taking two shots, and was a-1.

Brody Lamb and his Green Bay Gamblers fell to the Muskegon Lumberjacks 5-2. Lamb had an assist on the Gamblers' first goal to improve to 15-17-32. 

Eliminated

Riley Hughes and his Northeastern Huskies dropped a 2-1 overtime loss to Western Michigan in the first round of the NCAA's Worcester Regional. Hughes was very quiet with just one shot as he finished his junior season 2-10-12. 

Hughes falls further away from being considered a serious prospect. It is hard to see him being offered an entry-level contract at this time.

He's Coming

UMass forward Bobby Trivigno is expected to sign a two-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers. An undrafted free agent, Trivigno is a 5'8 160 hard-working player who is coming off a 20-28-48 season at UMass. 

There is a lot to like about Trivigno, who despite being 5'8, is known as a hard-working player.