Day three of the CHL playoffs saw seven New York Rangers prospects in action, and while it wasn't as exciting as Friday evening, it did see the top prospects show up. Will Cuylle and Brennan Othmann weren't factors in their respective teams' game one efforts but made up for it in game two.
Will Cuylle was ejected from his Windsor Spitfires first playoff game for fighting and was a non-factor. Game two was a totally different story as the game's first star was the factor as his Windsor Spitfires defeated Sarnia Sting 4-1 to take a 2-0 series lead.
Cuylle scored twice and led everyone with a game-high nine shots to go along with a +2 to lead the way for the Spitfires. The captain of the Spitfires got his team going, scoring the game's first goal and Windsor never looked back.
The even-strength goal was a beauty as Cuylle took a feed right off an offensive zone faceoff and fired a shot from the top of the left faceoff circle for a goal at 14:18 of the first period.
Captain Cuylle opens the scoring! 🚨@DallasStars prospect Wyatt Johnston (@johnston0055) finds @NYRangers prospect Will Cuylle (@willcuylle) who scores off the draw to put @SpitsHockey on the board. #WSRvsSAR pic.twitter.com/51dcxdJ2T2
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) April 23, 2022
The poor Sarnia goalie never had a chance to stop that shot, but it was what Windsor needed to get going. And it would be Cuylle who finished the scoring as he added an empty-net goal to seal the win for his team.
There was a clear difference in how Windsor played from game one to game two and it started with better team discipline. Windsor only had three minor penalties for the entire game as compared to 11 in game one.
The series shifts to Sarnia for the next two games starting on Tuesday.
Brennan Othmann and his Flint Firebirds rebounded from their game one loss to the Owen Sound Attack by winning game two 6-3. The game's third star, Othmann scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as part of a three-goal -a-minute outburst in the third period by the Firebirds.
Othmann cashed in a rebound on linemate Riley Piercey's shot at 11:19 of the third period. Somehow the puck wound up on his stick while Othmann was in the middle of four Attack players and he just fired the puck in.
In the video, Othmann's goal is the second one in the video clip:
The @FlintFirebirds exploded with three goals in a minute from Tag Bertuzzi, Brennan Othmann and Ethan Keppen to tie the series at one. #FLNTvsOS pic.twitter.com/XKuofAxD3Z
— OntarioHockeyLeague (@OHLHockey) April 24, 2022
The Firebird's captain also earned a primary assist on the game's first goal when his shot rebounded to linemate Zacharie Giroux's stick and Giroux wasted no time cashing it in just 41 seconds into the game for a 1-0 lead.
The Firebirds, who lost game one 6-3, scored twice in the game's first 90 seconds to even the series at 1-1 as it shifts to Owen Sound for game's three and four. Othmann was 1-1-2 +2 on five shots to go 2-1-3 after two games.
Dylan Garand stopped 21 of 23 shots as his Kamloops Blazers defeated the Spokane Chiefs 6-2 in game two of their WHL playoff series. Garand was pretty solid outside of the two goals; neither really could be viewed as "bad" goals.
Spokane scored twice in a matter of 1:17 in the third period running Garand's bid for a second straight shutout, but up until that moment Garand had shut the Chiefs out for over 109 minutes. Super-chippy game that saw the teams both have 10 power plays and a scrum in the last minute that had a ref get accidentally punched in the head as he was trying to separate the two players.
The two teams combined for 79 PIMs, not including two ten minute misconducts, and there is going to be some extra discipline coming to both teams because of some of the on-ice behaviors. Garand and his Blazers are 2-0 in the series, with game three scheduled for Kamloops on Monday.
Spokane's arena is not available, so this series is being played using a 3-3-1 format. It turns out to be a Paul McCartney concert that is keeping the Chiefs from hosting Game Three.
Ryder Korczak had a primary assist on two shots as his Moose Jaw Warriors took game two of their WHL playoff series 5-3 over the Saskatoon Blades. The Warriors take a 2-0 series lead as the series heads to Saskatoon for game's three and four.
Korczak was 18-10 on his faceoffs, but he missed on a couple of solid scoring chances; otherwise we would have more to say about his performance. Got to remember Korczak is the first line center for the Warriors so he does have a tough matchup on every shift.
Jayden Grubbe was scoreless as his Red Deer Rebels fell 2-1 in the first overtime to the Brandon Wheat Kings. Grubbe was credited with two shots, but he was also a -2 and went 16-8 on his faceoffs.
The loss means the series is tied at 1-1 as it shifts to Brandon for the next two games.
Talyn Boyko had a nightmare of a game as his Kelowna Rockets were looking to even their WHL playoff series against Matthew Rempe's Seattle Thunderbirds. Boyko surrendered seven goals while facing 40 shots as his Rockets got spanked 7-3 in game two.
Not all the goals were Boyko's fault as he lacked support from his teammates, but still seven goals is too much. Rempe was pretty quiet in game two, going scoreless on one shot with a -1 and going 5-8 on his faceoffs.
Seattle takes a 2-0 series lead as the series shifts to Kelowna for games three and four, but if Boyko can't play better, this will be a short one.
USHL
Brody Lamb ended his 2021-2022 USHL season with a scoreless game as his Green Bay Gamblers defeated the Madison Capitols 4-2. The Gamblers finished eighth in the USHL's Eastern Conference and did not qualify for the USHL playoffs.
Lamb, who is expected to attend Minnesota of the Big Ten next season, was credited with three shots and was a +1. For the season, Lamb was 19-22-41 in 62 games with 29 PIMs, a -19, and three game-winning goals.
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