NY Rangers College Prospects: Gabriel Perreault accumulating points
The college hockey season rolled on with several New York Rangers prospects in action on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
At the forefront of them all was the Rangers newest first-round pick Gabriel Perreault, who is starting to get a feel for the NCAA game and picking up plenty of points.
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NY Rangers College Prospects Update
Gabriel Perreault, Forward and Drew Fortescue, Defense
2023 1st Round Pick Gabe Perreault and Boston College will likely see themselves as the new number one ranked team in the nation when the polls come out early next week. The Eagles from Chestnut Hill skated away with a sweep over Michigan State Spartans, winning 6-4 on Thursday night before a resounding 5-1 victory on Friday. Perreault showcased his passing and playmaking ability on Thursday, earning an assist on linemate Ryan Leonard’s first NCAA goal in the first period.
Later in the second period, Perreault earned another primary assist as he collected the puck behind the net as a Boston College power play expired, and found Will Smith at the left circle to break a 3-3 tie. It was great to see the freshman earning power play time, especially with standout sophomore Cutter Gauthier.
Head coach Greg Brown has left the National Team Development Program trio of Perreault-Smith-Leonard intact to begin the season, though seeing which combinations can be successful together will help later on in the season if the team struggles to score and needs to mix up their offense. Perreault would finish the night with a +1 rating, winning one of the two faceoffs he took, while fellow Rangers’ prospect Drew Fortescue had a quiet game in the 6-4 win. On a positive note, Fortescue has been listed on the top defensive pair for all of Boston College’s games so far, which goes to show how much he is trusted by the coaching staff and has been utilized in a defensive role against the opposition’s top offensive lines.
Friday night saw another multiple point game for Perreault as he collected the primary assist on the Eagles second goal during the power play in the second period. His second assist of the game would come off a two-on-one in the third period while on the power play.
Perreault improves his season stats to one goal, six assists, and seven points through six games, good for second best amongst Boston College scorers. He finished Friday with two shots on goal, and a +1 rating. Drew Fortescue also had two shots on goal, and a +2 rating in the second game of the series.
With the two wins, Boston College improves to 5-1-0 on the season and will kick off their Hockey East schedule against UMass Lowell River Hawks on Friday, November 3rd.
Brody Lamb, Forward
While Boston College picked up two wins and will likely climb the rankings, the weekend wasn’t so successful for Brody Lamb and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. as they were swept in the Border Battle versus Wisconsin Badgers 5-2 on Thursday before losing their third straight game 3-2 on Friday. After going 4-11 on faceoffs in the first game of the series with only one shot on goal, Brody Lamb was dropped to right wing on the third line for the second game on Friday. He had three shots on goal, and a +1 rating, along with two blocked shots. Though he didn’t have any points, Lamb showcased his ability to play all three forward positions so far this year. The Golden Gophers will hope to right the ship and end their losing streak against another rival in Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs on Friday, November 3rd.
Hank Kempf, Defense
Speaking of Minnesota-Duluth, fellow New York Rangers prospect Hank Kempf and the Cornell Big Red kicked off their regular season against the Bulldogs. The junior defenseman started the game on the top pair for the hosts at Lynah Rink in Ithica, New York. He was credited with one blocked shot, and had an even +/= rating in the 4-1 win for the home team. On Saturday night, Kempf had a primary assist for Cornell’s second goal of the game at 5:41 of the second period. He had one shot on goal also in the second period, and finished the night with a +1 rating along with two blocked shots in the 3-0 win for the sweep. Cornell visit Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut on Friday, November 3rd.
Zakary Karpa, Forward
In other ECAC scores, Zakary Karpa had three shots on goal, and went 10-10 on faceoffs for the Harvard Crimson as they skated to a 1-1 tie against Dartmouth College Friday night. The team will host a pair of games next weekend in Cambridge, Massachusetts against Princeton University on Friday and Quinnipiac University on Saturday.
Jaroslav Chmelar, Forward
Jaroslav Chmelar extended his point streak to six games with one Goal, one Assist, four shots on goal, and a +2 rating in Providence College Friars 2-1 win vs. Vermont Friday. The sophomore has a team leading four goals, and five assists for nine points.
His point streak would come to an end on Saturday however, as the Friars tied Vermont 2-2 before losing the shootout 1-0. Chmelar’s attempt was stopped by Catamounts goaltender Gabe Carriere.
The Friars will travel to Durham, New Hampshire next weekend for a pair of games against the Wildcats.
Noah Laba, Center
Colorado College Tigers won the 23-24 Pikes Peak Trophy in a 6-2 win versus in-state rival Air Force Falcons. The Tigers are 5-0 for the first time since the 2004-2005 season, and will hold possession of the rivalry trophy for the fifth consecutive season. New York Rangers prospect Noah Laba had one assist, and two shots on goal. The sophomore was 9-11 on faceoffs and improved his season totals to 2-2-4 after four games. Despite wearing their “Saturday Gold” jerseys for the third weekend in a row, the Tigers could not continue their winning ways, as a late third period rally ultimately fell short in a 4-3 loss to Augustana University. Laba would collect an assist on the home team’s first goal to tie the game at 1-1 in the first period.
The sophomore center was 17-21 on faceoffs, and finished the game with four shots on goal. Colorado College will compete for The Gold Pan against rival Denver University next weekend.
Victor Mancini, Defense
Victor Mancini started at Right Defense for University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks and had two shots on goal with a +1 rating in a 2-2 tie against Ohio State University Buckeyes on Friday night. Ohio State goaltender Logan Terness stopped all 30 shots against on Saturday, as the Buckeyes shutout the Mavericks 4-0. Omaha will look to rebound next weekend when the Western Michigan University Broncos come to town.
Hugo Ollas, Goalie
Hugo Ollas served as the backup goaltender in Merrimack College Warriors 4-1 victory over Northeastern University Huskies on Saturday. The Warriors will host the University of Main Black Bears next weekend. It will be interesting to see if Ollas will get the start on Friday, or continue to be in net for the second of back-to-backs in the goaltending rotation.
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