Playoffs And Positioning Jockeying Begin

Simon Kjellberg (RPI)

Simon Kjellberg and his Rensselaer Engineers find themselves one loss away from having their 2021-2022 season come to an end after dropping game one of their "best of three" series against Dartmouth 3-2. This would be a disastrous ending to a season that started with a lot of promise.

Kjellberg recorded a secondary assist on two shots with a -1. There is only one option for the Engineers, win Saturday to force a game three on Sunday otherwise it is over and maybe Hartford adds a defenseman sooner than they thought they would

Riley Hughes and his Northeastern Huskies broke open a 1-1 tied game scoring the game's last five goals to defeat the Merrimack Warriors  6-1. The win puts the Huskies in the driver's seat with one game remaining for second place in the Hockey East standings. 

Hughes was held scoreless but he led everyone with seven shots on goal. It was a very active game for the junior forward. The same two teams will play on Saturday, and this is where it gets interesting:

Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds rallied for a 3-2 win over the Erie Otters on OHL action. Othmann scored his 36th goal of the season which tied the score at 2-2 in the second period. 

It was a big win as it helped the Firebirds maintain a two-point lead over the London Knights in the race for the OHL's Eastern Conference lead. Othmann improves to 36-38-74 good for seventh in the OHL's scoring race.

Jayden Grubbe (Red Deer Rebels)

Jayden Grubbe didn't take a shot, score a single point but his 21-5 on faceoffs were a big reason as to why his Red Deer Rebels defeated the Regina Pats 3-2. The win was the seventh straight for the Rebels who trail the Edmonton Oil Kings by eight points in their race for the WHL's Eastern Conference title.

Matt Rempe was scoreless on two shots while going 9-5 on faceoffs as his Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the Tri-City Americans 3-1. The win allows the Thunderbirds to maintain a one-point lead over the Kelowna Rockets in the race for the fourth-seed in the WHL's western conference playoffs.

It wasn't pretty but Talyn Boyko and his Kelowna Rockets will take a 5-4 overtime win over the Victoria Royals. Boyko faced 28 shots while giving up four goals to improve to 22-14-2-1 with a goals-against of  3.08 and a save percentage of 0.908. 

The Rockets were able to keep pace with the Thunderbirds for fourth-place in the WHL's western conference race.

Will Cuylle and his Windsor Spitfires fell behind the London Knights 3-0, fought back to force overtime but eventually fell 5-4. Cuylle was scoreless on four shots with a -2, a tripping minor, and was 0-3 on face-offs.

The loss puts the Spitfires eight points behind the Flint Firebirds in the race for the OHL's West Division championship.

Brody Lamb has a secondary assist on Green Bay's first goal but the Gamblers fell to the Chicago Steel 7-4 in USHL action. Lamb is 14-12-26 in 44 games for Green Bay.

Ryder Korczak and his Moose Jaw Warriors dropped a 5-3 game to the Prince Albert Raiders. Korczak was scoreless with no shots credited and an 11-11 record on faceoffs.

Did not play

Hugo Olllas was the backup for his Merrimack Warriors as they faced Riley Hughes and his Northeastern Huskies. 

Dylan Garand missed his eighth straight start for his Kamloops Blazers due to a "lower-body injury".