It’s a good thing this act took place off-Broadway for the New York Rangers because it wouldn’t have been well received on the big stage.
Several of the Rangers top prospects finished with ugly stat lines when the Hartford Wolf Pack lost to the Utica Comets 7-3 on Wednesday. In a game that saw several momentum swings, the Wolf Pack fell behind 3-0 by 5:06 of the second period, then tied it with three goals in a span of 4:59 midway through the same period. Utica answered back with a goal before the period ended and added three goals in the third period for what ended up to be a lop-sided loss for Hartford.
Rangers goalie prospect Dylan Garand allowed a season-high seven goals on 29 shots. It was only the fourth time in 19 starts this season that Garand, who will play in the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic, surrendered four or more goals. His goals-against average jumped to 2.41 and his save percentage dropped .919 — still excellent numbers — after the defeat.
Much of the damage against Garand and the Wolf Pack was delivered by former New Jersey Devils first-round pick Simon Nemec. The 2022 No. 2 overall pick scored two goals and added three assists for the first five-point game of his pro career. Max Willman scored two goals for Utica, as well.
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Victor Mancini, Brennan Othmann among Rangers prospects to have tough night for Wolf Pack
All of this came at the expense of some of the top prospects in the Rangers system. Defenseman Victor Mancini was minus-4 and forwards Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard were each minus-3. None of those three recorded a point nor were on ice for any of Hartford’s goals.
Mancini, who had five points including his first NHL goal in 15 games earlier this season with the Rangers, was on for three of the final four Utica goals that ultimately decided the game. He, Berard and Othmann were all on when Nemec scored at 13:01 of the second to make it 4-3 with what proved to be the game-winning goal.
It was Berard’s second game back in the AHL after the 22-year-old had seven points (three goals, four assists) in 19 games with the Rangers. In those two games with Hartford, Berard is minus-5. On the season, he has 13 points (seven goals, six assists) in 18 games with the Wolf Pack.
Othmann was held pointless for the fourth straight game and without a shot for the first time this season. New York’s first-round pick (No. 16 overall) in the 2021 NHL Draft had five points (two goals, three assists) in the first three AHL games this season before sustaining an upper-body injury which sidelined him for more than two months.
Since returning, Othmann has one goal and two assists in nine games, struggling to regain his scoring touch.
The Wolf Pack try to get back in the win column this weekend when they play a pair of matinee games in Charlotte against the Checkers on Saturday and Sunday.
