There were 12 New York Rangers prospects in action on Friday night in eleven games with one surprise return and one very disappointing performance. Production? Not tonight as the total from the eleven skaters totaled all of three points (one goal, two assists) as Ranger fans got a little spoiled over the repeated outstanding performances this season.
If it is Friday then it is time for a bit of a magic show from the Magic Man himself, Mister Gabe Perreault of top-ranked Boston College. Perreault only had two assists as he saw his goal-scoring streak end at five (six) while he extended his point scoring streak to 12 games (9-14-23) as Boston College spanked 17th-ranked New Hampshire 6-1 in Hockey East actions.
It is getting silly trying to describe just how outstanding Perreault is playing as there are 22 NHL teams and a ton of prospect “experts” (including yours truly) who got it wrong with him. First Perreault earns the secondary assist on Ryan Leonard’s 15th goal, a power-play marker at just 4:35 of the first period which game Boston College a 3-0 lead.
Third period with Boston College already up 5-1 and back on the power play, Perreault set up Cutter Gauthier for his team-leading 23rd goal and a 6-1 lead. That makes it Sweet 16 multi-point games for the first-year player.
By the numbers; Perreault was 0-2-2 on just one shot with a -1 as he improved to a team-best 12-31-43 which is 21n overall nationally (1st for freshman), second nationally in assists. and he is second in Hockey East scoring with a 8-23-31 mark.
Teammate defenseman Drew Fortescue earned an ejection for a game disqualification at 13:14 of the third period which was the only time he made the scoresheet. The question is whether or not Fortescue serves his one-game suspension in his very next game (Monday Bean Pot) or does he have to wait until his next Hockey East game.
Here is for hoping he sits on Monday for a meaningless third-place game against four win Harvard rather than next Friday in a conference matchup against 10th-ranked UMass.
Hank Kempf was scoreless with no shots and a +1 as his 12th-ranked Cornell Big Red extended their unbeaten streak to 11 straight games (8W, 0L. 2T. 1OL) with a 4-1 win over RPI in ECAC play. Hey Cornell is sitting in second place of the ECAC wo who cares if they are winning ugly right?
Zakary Karpa scored the only goal for the Ranger prospects on Friday night, his third but his poor four-win Harvard Crimson played to a 5-5 overtime tie with Dartmouth in ECAC play. Dartmouth would earn the extra point in the standings by winning the shootout (2-1 in seven rounds).
Here is the only prospect goal of the night courtesy of Captain Karpa:
This one counts 🎯
📺https://t.co/wH3vf2c6Ix
📊https://t.co/WDIppfYQDT#GoCrimson | #OneCrimson pic.twitter.com/K6X07GYwbs— Harvard Men’s Hockey (@HarvardMHockey) February 10, 2024
Here is my question which is why doesn’t Karpa do this more often? You see the skill set is there so why does he only have three goals all season? If he wants that Rangers ELC then he needs to make plays like this on a consistent basis. Right now Karpa has to be viewed as a second to lower level prospect who won’t advance past the AHL level. But the potential is there for him to develop into a checking center for the Rangers.
He was 1-0-1 on one shot with a +3 while going 9-16 on his faceoffs. He is 3-3-6 on the season.
Ty Henricks was scoreless in regulation but scored a key goal in the shootout round to help his Muskegon Lumberjacks earn a 4-3 win via the shootout round in USHL action. Henricks was scoreless on two shots with a +1.
In the shootout round, Henricks was the first shooter for the Lumberjacks as they earned a 3-2 win in the shootout round to pick up the extra point in the standings.
Brody Lamb was scoreless on two shots as his ninth-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers shut out the Penn State Nittany Lions 3-0 in Big Ten play. Since December 1, Minnesota has gone (10-3-0-3OL) to turn their season around.
Maxim Barbashev was scoreless with no recorded stats as his Rimouski Oceanic defeated the Gatineau Olympiques 3-1 in QMJHL play. Barbashev has just one goal in his last 17 games.
Victor Mancini was scoreless on one shot with a -3 as his 19th-ranked Omaha Mavericks were spanked 6-1 by 14th-ranked Western Michigan in NCHC action. The loss snapped a four game unbeaten streak for Omaha (3W-0L-1OTW).
Dylan Roobroeck was scoreless as his Oshawa Generals got spanked 7-2 by the Flint Firebirds in OHL play. Roobroeck was limited to two shots as he was a -1 with twin minors for roughing and he was 12-8 on his faceoffs.
Roobroeck saw a modest four-game scoring streak stopped (1-6-7) as he remains the leading scorer among Ranger prospects at 15-32-47.
Rasmus Lawsson was scoreless as his Green Bay Gamblers lost to the Waterloo Blackhawks 5-4 in USHL action. Lawsson was credited with one shot and was a -2.
The 13th-ranked Providence Friars welcomed back sophomore Jaroslav Chmelar to their lineup but still lost to rival the seventh-ranked Maine Black Bears 2-1 in Hockey East action. Chmelar returned after missing the last nine games after undergoing wrist surgery.
Chmelar was scoreless on two shots. Before his injury Chmelar was Providence’s leader scorer at 5-9-14. The offense-starved Friars badly need Chmelar’s offense to restart in a hurry if they have NCAA tournament hopes.
Did Not Play
Hugo Ollas was the backup goalie in his Merrimack College’s 7-1 loss to #3 Boston University.
