Garand Returns With A Win

Hank Kempf (Jason Wiu)

Our Friday night report starts with the second round of the ECAC playoffs as two New York Ranger defensive prospects are involved. All told, 11 Ranger prospects saw action in an entertaining evening.

Hank Kempf made his ECAC playoffs debut as his Cornell Big Red defeated the Colgate Raiders 3-1 in game one of their "best of three" playoffs series. Kempf who is still looking for his first career goal at the NCAA level was credited with five shots on goal even though he was scoreless on the night. 

The freshman defender was credited with a +1 and a minor penalty for interference. The Big Red look for the sweep on Saturday and hopefully advance to the ECAC semifinals. Their numbers are not strong enough to earn an "at-large" invite to the NCAA tournament.

Simon Kjellberg and his Rensselaer Engineers let a 3-0 lead getaway as they dropped game one of their ECAC playoff series to the Harvard Crimson 4-3 in overtime. Kjellberg was scoreless on three shots with a -2 and one blocked shot. 

For the second straight playoff series, the Engineers are going to have to win on Saturday to force a game three on Sunday if they want to advance. This time though they will have to do it on the road.

You can catch either game on ESPN+. 

Dylan Garand (Kamloops Blazers)

After missing eight straight games with a lower-body injury, Dylan Garand returned to the Kamloops Blazers lineup in time to face Talyn Boyko and his Kelowna Rockets. Entering this contest Garand was 0-3 against the Rockets this season and given that Garand has only lost seven games, he badly wanted this win. 

Garand stopped 24 out of 26 shots as the Blazers defeated the Rockets for just the second time in seven games this season. Garand looked really good showing no rust or issues with his "lower-body injury".

It helped that Garand's teammates got the jump on Boyko and the Rockets outshooting them 16-8 in the first period. Garand earned his 26th win of the season to improve to 26-7 with a goals-against of 2.08 which leads the WHL, a save percentage of 0.922 (second WHL), and his 26 wins are second best in the WHL.

For Talyn Boyko, he gave up four goals while facing 37 shots, he didn't play badly, just had the misfortune of playing against a fired-up Kamloops team on their ice. Boyko falls to 24-15-2-1 with a goals-against of  3.08 and a save percentage of 0.909

It is Friday so that means it is time for your Brennan Othmann highlight clip:

You know who they're trying to find 👀@NYRangers prospect Brennan Othmann (@BOthmann78) buries his 38th of the season on the PP as the @FlintFirebirds lead by two in London 🎥 pic.twitter.com/INkcxFJFLD

— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) March 12, 2022

Othmann scored his 38th of the season to help his Flint Firebirds earn a big 6-2 win over the second-place London Knights in the battle for the OHL's Western Conference championship. The goal was Flint's third of the game and proved to be the game-winner for the Firebirds who open up a six-point lead over the Knights.

The win is big because the Knights hold three games in hand on the Firebirds so the win puts the Firebirds up in the tiebreaker. Othmann would also earn a primary assist on the Firebirds' fifth goal so his line for the night looks like 1-1-2  on six shots with a +2, and a double minor for high-sticking.

Brody Lamb had a career-best 1-2-3 but it wasn't enough to keep the Youngstown Phantoms from defeating his Green Bay Gamblers 6-5. Lamb would get his Gamblers on the scoreboard with a goal at 12:38 of the first period. 

Point number two would come when Lamb was credited with the primary assist on the Gambler's third goal of the game coming at 19:18 of the second period tying the game at 3-3. The third point was a secondary assist on Green Bay's fifth goal coming at 9:47 of the third.

The 1-2-3 effort improved Lamb's season totals to 15-14-29, a respectable number for a rookie at the USHL level. Remember Lamb is heading to Minnesota of the NCAA next season so this is a nice help for his development.

Ryder Korczak had a quiet night going scoreless as his Moose Jaw Warriors defeated the Calgary Hitmen 5-2. A rare night as Korczak didn't record a shot, was a -1, and went 6-5 on faceoffs.

Evan Vierling was held scoreless as his Barrie Colts defeated the Niagara IceDogs 6-3. Vierling was credited with five shots and was a +1 as he was 12-10 on his faceoffs.

Jayden Grubbe and his Red Deer Rebels hosted the Medicine Hat Tigers in WHL action with the Rebels coming out on top 6-3. Grubbe was scoreless on four shots and was 13-8 on his faceoffs.

Will Cuylle and his Windsor Spitfires dropped a 6-3 decision to the Erie Otters in OHL action. Cuylle would earn a primary assist for his only point as he was 0-1-1 on two shots with a -2 and a minor for hooking. 

The Spitfires captain is a career-best 30-26-56 in 43 games.

Matthew Rempe was scoreless as his Seattle Thunderbirds fell to the Portland Winterhawks 3-2 via the shootout. Rempe was credited with four shots with a +1 and went 8-6 on his faceoffs.