Seven New York Rangers prospects saw action on Saturday night and three of the prospects stood out because of their offense. Sophomore Left Wing Ty Henricks led the way with a two-goal evening to help lead his second-ranked Western Michigan Broncos to a 6-0 win over UMass-Lowell in non-conference play.
The game’s first star, Henricks recorded his first two goals of the season with back-to-back goals in the second period as the Broncos earned a series sweep on the road.
With his team already up- 1-0, Henrick’s first goal came when he cashed in his own rebound at 2:56 of the second period. Henricks never quit on the play as he kept whacking at the puck until he forced it in for a 2-0 Broncos lead.
Goal number two came 2:24 later at 5:20 when Henricks off the rush snapped a shot past the UMass-Lowell goalie stick side to make it a 3-0 lead.
Henricks who played on the third line as its left wing, was looking for his offense in this one as he tied the game high with five shots. Last year it would have taken Henricks a month to record five shots, so this is a nice improvement.
The Rangers sixth-round pick in the 2023 draft, Henricks fits in with the skyscraper sized forwards that the Rangers have been collecting in recent years. At 6’5 210, the 19 -year-old forward is a much bigger version of Chris Kreider and what we like the most is that Henricks attacks the net.
No perimeter shots from Henricks as he scores almost all his goals from the slot area. Henricks is 2-1-3 after four games.
Nathan Aspinall earned first star honors with a 1-2-3 performance to lead his Flint Firebirds to a 5-4 win over their arch-rivals the Saginaw Spirit in OHL play. The points not only give Aspinall the overall lead in prospect scoring but extended his scoring streak to five games as he improves to 6-3-9 after five games.
In the first period with his team trailing 1-0 and on the power play, Aspinall unleashed a one-time slap shot that beat the Saginaw goalie to tie the game at 1. The 6’7 captain of the Firebirds is making his case for his Rangers entry level contract, Aspinall is off to the best start of his OHL career as he has also taken over as the leading scorer on the Firebirds as well.
Aspinall would earn his second point with a secondary assist on his Firebirds third goal of the game and then added his third point when he got the only assist on what proved to be the game winning goal on the Firebirds fifth goal.
Senior Brody Lamb and his 14th-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers earned a split in their weekend series against E. J. Emery and his eighth-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks winning 5-1 in non-conference play. The captain of the Gophers led the way with a 1-2-3 game as the Gophers got a measure of revenge after last night’s loss.
Lamb got on the scoresheet when he earned the primary assist on teammate Tanner Ludtke’s goal at 5:46 of the first period which gave the Gophers a 1-0 lead. Lamb’s second point was also a primary assist as this one at 1:13 of the third period proved to be the game-winning goal as it put the Gophers up 2-1.
Lamb would then ice the game when he scored his fourth goal of the season at 14:56 of the third period when he finished off a rush with a rather easy tap in goal.
It is the fourth time in his Minnesota career that Lamb recorded a three point night. The 1-2-3 evening brings his season totals to 4-3-7 as Lamb takes over as the leading scorer on the team. E. J. Emery was scoreless as his North Dakota Fighting Hawks lost for the first time this season (3-1).
Sean Barnhill was scoreless as his fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans defeated top-ranked Boston University 4-3 in non-conference play. Branhill did not record a shot and was a -2 as his Spartans made it a two game sweep of Boston University.
Artem Gonchar was scoreless as his Sudbury Wolves lost to the Soo Greyhound 3-1 in OHL action to split their rivalry week play. Gonchar did not record a shot as he was a -1.
Evan Passmore was scoreless as his Barrie Colts defeated the North Bay Battalion 3-1 in OHL action. Passmore was a +1 on one shot.
Who is number one?
There will be a new number one team in college hockey this week thanks to Sean Barnhill’s fourth-ranked Michigan State Spartans sweeping top-ranked Boston University. The question is which team moves to the top?
Malcom Spence’s third-ranked Michigan Wolverines are undefeated at 6-0 but they have played a weak schedule.
Ty Henricks second-ranked Western Michigan have one loss but it was to 1-3 Ferris State which hurts their cause. But it will make next Thursday’s game again Michigan that much more interesting. Game will be televised on the Big Ten Network.
Sean Barnhill’s fourth-ranked Michigan State just swept the current number one team on the road which should be why they deserve to be the new number one for now.
Six of the Rangers seven NCAA prospects are playing on ranked teams with only Rasmus Larsson playing on an unranked team.
