Ten New York Rangers prospects took to the ice on Friday night and ignored the scores as each had to fight to earn the results that their team’s earned. And really the better performances came from those who didn’t show up on the scoresheets.
The featured contest on Friday night came in a non-conference game between E.J. Emery’s seventh-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks (3-3) and Hank Kempf’s eighth-ranked Cornell Big Red (1-0). The game score was 4-1 in favor of host Cornell, but this one was a lot closer than the score. Neither Emery nor Kempf showed up on the scoresheet and unless you had access to the advanced metrics then you wouldn’t have even known the Kempf was credited with two blocked shots.
But what you would have enjoyed watching was both Ranger prospects playing a solid game and if there was an edge here, it went to Kempf who made defensive play after defensive play for his team. Kempf might have saved the game for his team when he stopped a shot from going into what was a wide-open net with just under fourteen minutes left in the third period and his team defending a two-goal lead.
Had that puck gone in then this outcome might have been different. This was a different Hank Kempf than the lumbering slow defender of the past three seasons.
This was a Kempf who had a more fluid stride to his skating, who was making solid reads and was not once caught out of position. If Kempf can do this on a consistent basis then the Rangers 2021 seventh-round pick might even earn himself a Rangers contract.
As for Emery, pass the word and tell people not to compare him to K’Andre Miller as Emery is nothing at all like him. For starters, this is a defenseman who can actually play his position unlike Miller. Emery was like Kempf playing a very solid defensive game and he is clearly a couple of years ahead of Miller in terms of his development.
The one area where both prospects need to work on is on adding some offense to their game as neither has one. But if you are not doing anything on Saturday night and have access to ESPN Plus then watch the second game of this series starting at 7 PM ET/4 PM PT as this was a particularly good matchup between two of the NCAA’s better squads.
Gabe Perreault had a two-goal evening as his second-ranked Boston College Eagles (4-1) defeated tenth-ranked St. Cloud State (6-2) in a non-conference game. With his team on the power play and already up 1-0, Perreault somehow was able to fire a laser of a shot under the cross bar.
The sophomore forward put his shot in as tight an open space as one could find. This one was pretty, and it gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Hagens ➡️ Powell ➡️ Perreault pic.twitter.com/SgQcFPxwo4
— BC Men’s Hockey (@BC_MHockey) November 2, 2024
It was Perreault’s third goal of the season coming at 5:22 of the second period. St. Cloud State would respond with a goal just 66 seconds later to cut the lead to 2-1.
Teammate Drew Fortescue would record his first point of the season when he earned a secondary assist on the Eagles third goal of the game coming at 18:28 of the second period. Fortescue went on the attack picking up a loose puck near center ice and carried it into the offensive zone.
He would start the play that led to the Eagles’ first shorthanded goal of the season to give his team a 3-1 lead. Perreault would add an empty net goal with four seconds remaining for the final goal of the game and his fourth of the season.
Perreault was 2-0-2 on three shots with a +1 to improve to 4-5-9 in five games played. He is tied for the team lead in goals and leads in points. Oh, and he is doing this play just 14:54 a game. Fortescue was 0-1-1 with no shots but he was +2 as he earned his first point of the season.
Same two teams will play on Saturday evening at St. Cloud.
Raul Boilard had two assists and a misconduct as his Baie-Comeau Drakkar (10-5-1) spanked the Gatineau Olympiques 8-2 in QMJHL play. It was the third straight win for the Drakkar as they blew the game open with a four goal second period.
Boilard earned the primary assist on Drakkar’s fourth goal when he fed linemate Justin Poirier with a cross-ice feed that Poirier one-timed into the Gatineau net for a power play goal at 4:34 of the second period.
The other assist was a secondary one also on a Poirier goal (and power play) on Drakkar’s sixth goal of the game. Boilard saw his night end when he and the other nine skaters on the ice failed to clear the area of a fight in the game’s final five minutes.
The QMJHL has stricter rules on fighting than either of the two other CHL leagues. It is a good rule to attempt to control the foolish fights at the end of games.
Boilard was 0-2-2 and was 11-7 on his faceoffs. The current leading scorer among the Rangers prospects with a 2-12-14 line. Boilard has a 53.4 faceoff win rate.
Brody Lamb had the primary assist on his fourth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-1, 1-0) first goal as they opened Big Ten play with a 3-1 win over 18th-ranked Penn State. Lamb was the left wing on the Gopher’s top line had a five-game scoring streak (5-3-8) as he has a 5-4-9 line after seven games.
The assist was almost accidental as Lamb had missed on his first attempt to set up his teammate. Lamb got the puck back behind the Penn State goal and he just put it in front of the Penn State goal with Jimmy Snuggerud finding it and snapping it past the Penn State goalie.
JIM IS HIM pic.twitter.com/K9i2qII9C4
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) November 2, 2024
This is the Brody Lamb we have been wanting to see and he has been getting the job done. Want to see him record more than one shot a game. Same two teams on Saturday evening.
Noah Laba returned to his ninth-ranked Colorado College (5-0) lineup as they hosted Air Force for a non-conference game. Laba was credited with just one shot and was 14-4 on his faceoffs as Colorado College needed overtime before beating Air Force 3-2.
Captain Zakary Karpa and his Harvard Crimson (0-1, 0-1) made both their season and ECAC debuts with a 2-1 loss to Dartmouth. Karpa was credited with one shot and was 4-6 on his faceoffs.
Rasmus Larsson was credited with four shots and a slashing minor as his Northern Michigan Wildcats (1-6, 0-1) opened CCHA play with a 3-0 loss to Michigan Tech. Happy to see Larsson opening up his game with the four shots and hopes he keeps it up.
Nathan Aspinall and his Flint Firebirds (6-6-0-1) were shutout by the Windsor Spitfires 3-0. Aspinall was credited with two shots.
