Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault flying, points streak hits 16 games
This past weekend saw a pair of New York Rangers prospects square off against each other as their respective collegiate teams continued jockeying for positioning for the NCAA tournament. It also witnessed the continued incredible play of highly-touted prospect Gabe Perreault.
To date, no other unsigned Rangers prospect has shown more promise than Perreault, who leads the NCAA in points per game (1.67) as a freshman.
Related: Rangers shut down any trade talk asking for Perreault or Othmann
Gabe Perreault points streak hits 16 games
Highlighting the action on Friday night was 2023 first-round pick Gabe Perreault for the top ranked Boston College Eagles as they defeated the University of Vermont Catamounts by a score of 7-1. The freshmen got on the scoresheet at 6:38 of the second period when he teamed up with Will Smith to set up Cutter Gauthier on the power play to make it a 2-0. It was Perreault’s 35th assist of the season and increased his point scoring streak to 16 games. So far, he’s been held without a point in only three of the 30 games he’s appeared in.
Perreault recorded his 15th goal of the season just 19 seconds into the third period when Smith grabbed a turnover and sent the puck over to him waiting at the front of the net. Perreault finished the game with two points (1 goal, 1 assist) on four shots, and a +1 rating. Meanwhile teammate Drew Fortescue was a +2 with one blocked shot.
When the lineups for Saturday’s game were revealed, Perreault was listed as a scratch. There was no announcement as to the reason, so hopefully his status is only “day-to-day”. Fortescue was listed on the third defensive pairing, but had a strong game with four shots on goal in a 4-2 victory. Boston College is leading the Hockey East Men’s Standings with 52 points in 21 conference games played. They have a 25-5-1 overall record and will travel to Durham, New Hampshire on Friday, March 1st to take on the Wildcats before hosting Senior Night at Conte Forum on Sunday, March 3rd.
New York Rangers College Prospects Update
In other Hockey East action, sophomore forward Jaroslav Chmelar earned the primary assist in what turned out to be the game winning goal for the Providence College Friars against the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Saturday. This was the Czech native’s first point since November 24th, as he is slowly recovering from wrist surgery. A fifth-round pick of the Rangers in 2021, he has five goals and ten assists for 15 points in 21 games played.
Providence are 17-10-3 overall this season and will face the Merrimack College Warriors on Thursday, February 29th in a possible matchup against fellow New York Rangers 2020 seventh-round draftee Hugo Ollas. Merrimack is currently 12-18-1 on the season, while Ollas has a 2.72 goals against average and .908 save percentage with a 6-9 record.
After capturing the Ivy League Regular season title, defenseman Hank Kempf and the Cornell Big Red had a setback in ECAC play, losing 4-3 to Clarkson University on Friday before skating to a 2-2 tie against St. Lawrence on Saturday. Despite not being know for producing much offensively, it was Kempf who gained the extra point for his team Saturday night after scoring in the seventh round of the shootout. He finished with four shots on goal and blocked shots after being credited with one shot on goal and one blocked shot Friday night.
If the NCAA tournament started today, Cornell would be the last team in, as they sit at 16th in the Pairwise ratings, though that also means they would be the first out if any team currently outside of the top 16 win an automatic bid by winning a conference tournament. The Big Red have a record of 16-5-6 and will close out the regular season at home against Union College on Friday, March 1st and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, March 2nd before the ECAC Quarterfinals begin on Friday March 15th.
Harvard Crimson captain Zakary Karpa scored his fourth goal of the season Friday night against Union College. Unfortunately for the Crimson, they were already trailing 6-0 before getting on the board in the third period as they would eventually fall 6-2. Karpa finished the game going 5-9 on faceoffs.
Saturday wasn’t any better for the 2022 sixth-round pick, as he was held scoreless in a 2-2 tie against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute while going 9-15 from the faceoff dots. Harvard earned an extra standings point via shootout win. With an overall record of 5-17-5, Harvard needs to win the ECAC Conference tournament in order to qualify for the NCAA tournament. They conclude regular season play at home against Yale University on Friday, March 1st and against Brown University on Saturday, March 2nd before a single game elimination in the ECAC First Round on Friday March 8th.
A week after completing a sweep over the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, center Noah Laba and the Colorado College Tigers were unable to continue their winning streak against defenseman Victor Mancini and the University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks. Laba was held to two shots on goal with a -2 rating while going 8-8 on faceoffs Friday, as Omaha won 3-0. Mancini was scoreless and had a +1 rating. The two teams skated to a 1-1 tie on Saturday, with Omaha winning the shootout. Mancini had four shots on goal while Laba had only one shot and struggled on faceoffs with a record of 4-11.
Colorado College fell to 15th in the PairWise ratings, which puts them right on the bubble. With a record of 18-10-2 on the season, the team will look to secure their spot in the last couple of weeks when they face Minnesota Duluth and Denver to close the regular season. Omaha sits just outside the bubble at 18th in PairWise with a record of 16-10-4. The Mavericks have remaining series against Miami and North Dakota to wrap up NCHC conference play before the Quarterfinals on March 15th and 16th.
More About:New York Rangers Features