Captain Cuylle Leads His Spitfires To Their 13th Straight Win

Ryder Korczak (Marc Smith)

Captain Will Cuylle continued his hot play with a goal as his Windsor Spitfires defeated the Saginaw Spirit 5-3 for their 13th straight win. Cuylle scored his 43rd goal of the season on a pinball shot that hit the Saginaw goalie, then off a Saginaw defender before bouncing into the goal.

The Spitfires have already clinched the OHL's Western Championship and are just waiting to see who they will face in the first round of the OHL playoffs. Cuylle has been on fire with 14 goals in his last 15 games to tie Brennan Othmann for the prospect's lead in goal scoring. 

Overall Cuylle is 43-37-90 on the season.

Ryder Korczak was 1-1-2 for his Moose Jaw Warriors, but it wasn't enough as they dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Korczak was the key for both goals that the Warriors scored, starting with setting up Eric Alaire for the game's first score. 

In the first period, Korczak deked two Wheat Kings before hitting Alaire in the slot and Alaire converted to give Moose Jaw a 1-0 lead. In the second, Korczak recorded his 23rd goal of the season when he followed up his own shot and put the rebound in for his 23rd goal of the season and a 2-0 Moose Jaw lead.

📺| @FordJaw highlights from Saturday night's 3-2 shootout loss in Brandon.

Ryder Korczak had a goal and two points in the loss.#AllInTogether | #MJvsBDN pic.twitter.com/ThGzf7NLlv

— x - Moose Jaw Warriors (@MJWARRIORS) April 10, 2022

The Wheat Kings would score twice to tie the game, eventually forcing overtime and then the shootout. Korczak would miss on his shootout attempt and finished the game 1-1-2 on four shots with a +2 and was 13-13 on his faceoffs. 

For the season, Korczak is 23-51-74, which are career bests for the Rangers third round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Despite the loss, the Warriors picked up a point to move into a tie for fourth place in the WHL's Eastern Conference with three games remaining in the regular season.

Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds defeated the Erie Otters 4-1 to remain in third place in the OHL's Western Conference. The Firebirds hold a two-point lead over the Soo Greyhounds for the third seed, but they also have a game in hand over the Soo. 

Othmann was credited with a secondary assist on Flint's fourth goal as he improved his season totals to 43-47-90, which is tops among all New York Rangers prospects. 

It wasn't pretty, but Talyn Boyko and his Kelowna Rockets doubled up the Vancouver Giants 8-4 for their sixth straight win. Boyko stopped 30 of the 34 shots that he faced in improving his record to 28-18-2-3 as he won his fourth straight start.

The Rocket's goalie saw his season's numbers fall to a goals-against of 3.05 and a save percentage of 0.908. The Rockets are still chasing the Seattle Thunderbirds for the third seed in the WHL's Western Conference playoffs. 

Speaking of Seattle, it may be April, but that doesn't' mean snow can still affect travel plans. The Spokane Chiefs ran into travel issues along the Snoqualmie Pass, which pushed back the start time of the game from 7:05 to 9:00. 

The wait was worth it for Thunderbird fans as their team pulled away with three goals in the third period for a 6-2 win. The win keeps the Thunderbirds two points ahead of the Kelowna Rockets in the race for the fourth seed in the WHL's Western Conference, with Seattle having three games remaining on their regular season schedule.

Rempe was scoreless on two shots with a -1 and a minor penalty for tripping. He was also 6-8 on his faceoffs.

Dylan  Garand and his Kamloops Blazers dropped a heartbreaking 5-4 overtime decision to the Portland Winterhawks. The loss pretty much ended the Blazers hopes of winning the WHL's Western Conference championship as they trail the Everett Silvertips by three points with just two games left in their regular season.

Garand stopped 37 out of 42 shots that the Winterhawks fired at him, but it wasn't enough to prevent the loss. The Kamloops goalie saw his record fall to 33-8-1 with a 2.15 goals-against and a 0.925 save percentage.

Jayden Grubbe and his Red Deer Rebels saw their hopes for the WHL's Central Division Championship end when the Edmonton Oil Kings defeated them 6-4. The win gives the Oil Kings the Division title as they have an eight-point lead over Red Deer with Red Deer only having two games left in the regular season.

Grubbe was scoreless ending a four-game scoring streak (4-1-5) as he was held to four shots. The Red Deer captain was 14-14 on his faceoffs. Red Deer will finish third in the WHL's Eastern Conference and will host a first round playoff series.

Evan Vierling and his Barrie Colts saw their winless streak extend to four games (0-3-1) after getting spanked 6-1 by the North Bay Battalion in OHL action. Vierling was scoreless on two shots and was a -2 while going 13-7 on their faceoffs.

Brody Lamb  and his Green Bay Gamblers saw their winless streak extend to five games (0-4-1) after they were blown out 10-3 by the Chicago Steel. Lamb recorded his 18th goal of the season in the second period while they were still in the game. 

The Gamblers are nine points out of the last USHL playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with just five games left in their season. They will be the only team with a Rangers prospect not to make the playoffs this season. 

Lamb improves to 18-22-40 on the season.