The Connecticut Whale played three times over the weekend, winning once and losing twice (once in overtime).
On Friday, the Whale hosted the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and lost 3-0. Chad Johnson played for just 9:01 of the game before allowing three goals on 13 shots, and being pulled from the net. Cam Talbot made 18 saves in relief.
Then on Saturday, the Whale hosted the Adirondack Phantoms and defeated them 3-0. Talbot improved his shutout streak to 110:59, stopping all 26 shots-against; earning his third shutout of the season and 13th win. Forward Kelsey Tessier scored twice in the win, while Casey Wellman added a goal and an assist.
Connecticut hosted the Providence Bruins on Sunday, and lost 3-2 in overtime on a goal scored with just 2.1 seconds remaining. Talbot’s shutout streak was snapped at 145:35 (minutes: seconds), but he still provided the Whale with a solid 28 save effort. Kris Newbury had a goal and an assist in the game, and rookie Jonathan Audy-Marchessault added helpers on both goals. Wade Redden also scored in the overtime loss.
The Whale’s record now looks like 34-24-7-5 (80 points), and they are seated second in the Northeast Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference. They need six points to clinch a playoff berth with six games remaining in their regular season.
“(Right now) everyone is watching the standings for points, and it becomes more important to win games,” Whale head coach Ken Gernander said following Saturday’s win. “At this point our margin of error is such that you’re not afforded mistakes,” he added on the playoff topic after Sunday’s game.
The Whale will play another three games this weekend, beginning with a home game on Friday at 7pm (ET) against the Manchester Monarchs. Then on Saturday, the Whale visits the Penguins for a 7:05pm puck-drop, followed by a 5pm game in Hershey against the Bears on Sunday.
The Bridgeport Sound Tigers (83 points; first in the Northeast) play three times week, with home games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Adirondack (72 points; third in the Northeast) will play three times this weekend, while both Springfield (72 points; fourth in the Northeast) and Albany (71 points; fifth in the Northeast) play once mid-week, and twice over the weekend.
If the Whale can win all three of its games this weekend, then a playoff berth will be clinched. Depending on how the teams mentioned above, along with the Portland Pirates, perform during the week, Connecticut’s road to the playoffs may become easier and quicker.
Hockey’s Future has released their list of the top 20 Rangers prospects.
(1)Chris Kreider
JT Miller
Dylan McIlrath
Mats Zuccarello
Jesper Fast
Christian Thomas
Brady Skjei
Boo Nieves
Oscar Lindberd
(10)Michael St. Croix
THIS SECTION has detailed Ranger prospect rankings for the last few seasons.
In the fall, the Rangers top five prospects on this list were Kreider, Miller, McIlrath, Fast and Skjei.
Note: Zuccarello is considered a prospect based on their criteria for labeling players prospects. They allow players who come from Europe at 22 to meet their critera within three seasons. This is Zuccarello’s third season and he has not yet played 65 total games.
Dylan McIlrath: A fight, roughing penalties and a high sticking penalty
Ryan Bourque: Minus 1
JT Miller: assist, one shot, minus one
Marek Hrivik: one shot
Chris Kreider: Minus 2, NO SHOTS
Conor Allen: Minus 1
Christian Thomas: assist, one shot, plus one
The Whale are currently in eighth place with 79 points. Manchester, ninth place, has one game in hand and is two points behind. Norfolk also has 79 points but has one game in hand.
They are 4-5-1 in their last ten and have lost their last four games.
Stu Bickel was a minus one, had three shots and had a hooking penalty
Kyle Jean had a tripping penalty
Ryan Bourque was a minus one
JT Miller had one shot
Marek Hrivik didn’t register on the score sheet
Chris Kreider had a goal, three shots and a roughing penalty and a tripping penalty
Christian Thomas had one shot
Cam Talbot stopped 42 of 44 shots.
The Whale lines, according to Bob Crawford, saw Chris Kreider skated with Kris Newbury and Benn Ferriero, JT Miller with Brandon Mashinter and Brandon Segal, Christian Thomas with Michael Haley and Marek Hrivik, Kyle Jean with Brandon Bourque and Kyle Palmieri.
Jesper Fast is banged up and likely out for the rest of the regular season.
Jesper Fast: Goal, plus one, 1 shot and a goalie interference penalty
Chris Kreider: two assists and one shot
Christian Thomas: one assist, plus one, no shots
Cam Talbot with 21 saves
Kris Newbury: Three assists
Great game tonight little tired now but i guess it s normal on first game after 3 months.wanna also thank the fans for the support!!— Marek Hrivik (@Hrivo15) April 06, 2013
Over the weekend, Larry Brooks wrote that the Rangers aren’t expected to bring in a large group of players to training camp.
He said that Michael Haley has a chance to make the team and that besides Chris Kreider, Marek Hrivik could get an invite to training camp.
Carp from Rangers Report tweets that the Rangers are only expected to have about 23 players in training camp.
At Howlings, Mitch Beck writes that John Tortorella has taken a bit of an interest in Hrivik.
Beck also thinks that Chad Kolarik has a chance to get a shot if the Rangers are in need of scoring.
On Chris Kreider, Beck says that he hasn’t been dominant and he has been “okay” but hasn’t scored that much.
Matt Gilroy is also expected to be invited to training camp.
The Rangers training camp roster is expected to look something like:
Goalie: Henrik Lundqvist, Martin Biron
Defense: Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Ryan McDonagh, Michael Del Zotto, Anton Stralman, Stu Bickel, Steve Eminger, Matt Gilroy.
Offense: Rick Nash, Brad Richards, Marian Gaborik, Ryan Callahan, Arron Asham, Brian Boyle, Carl Hagelin, Jeff Halpern, Taylor Pyatt, Mike Rupp, Derek Stepan, Chris Kreider, Michael Haley, Marek Hrivik, Chad Kolarik.
Over the weekend, Larry Brooks wrote that the Rangers aren’t expected to bring in a large group of players to training camp.
