New York Rangers NCAA prospects report: Gabe Perreault earns Hockey East honors
Gabe Perreault scored three more goals for Boston College this past weekend, and the top New York Rangers prospect was named Hockey East Co-Player of the Week.
Included in his three goals were two game-winners, Friday and Saturday at St. Cloud State.
Friday night, Perreault extended the Eagles lead to 2-0 by scoring a power-play goal at 5:22 of the second period, when he fired a laser of a shot under the cross bar. He iced the 4-1 win with an empty-net goal with four seconds remaining, and finished with three shots on goal and a plaus-1 rating.
BC teammate and fellow 2023 draft pick Drew Fortescue recorded his first point of the season in the victory, an assist coming at 18:28 of the second period. Fortescue picked up a loose puck near center ice and carried it into the offensive zone to start the attack, leading to Boston College’s first short-handed goal of the season and a 3-1 lead. Fortescue added one blocked shot, and finished with a plus-2 rating.
On Saturday, Fortescue was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for hitting from behind. This will result in the defenseman being suspended for the Eagles next game against Maine on Friday. Fortescue had one shot on goal, two blocked shots, and was plus-1 before the ejection.
In his freshman year, Perreault needed 17 games to reach five goals. Now a sophomore, Perreault has five goals through six games. After St. Cloud failed to clear the puck in the defensive zone Saturday, James Hagens forced a turnover and found Perreault, who took the puck to the net and deked the goaltender to give himself an easy tap in and another game-winning goal.
The goal extended his point streak to six games. His five goals leads BC, and his 10 points are tied with Hagens for most on the team. Perreault is averaging 1.67 points per game.
Related: First-hand look at EJ Emery when Rangers top pick played against Cornell
Rangers prospects EJ Emery & Hank Kempf meet head-to-head
EJ Emery — photo courtesy Alan Selavka
Junior Brody Lamb had the primary assist on Minnesota’s first goal Friday night, when they opened Big Ten play with a 3-1 win against Penn State University. Lamb got the puck behind the net and put it in front for Jimmy Snuggerud to fire it past the Nittany Lions goaltender.
Lamb had one shot on goal, and was plus-1 on Friday. The next day, Lamb increased his shooting output to three shots on goal, with one blocked shot during a 1-0 victory. His five-game point streak came to an end. The Golden Gophers will next play a pair of games against the Wisconsin Badgers on Nov. 8 and 9.
The big matchup of the weekend saw two Rangers prospects facing each other, as 2021 seventh-round pick Hank Kempf and the No. 6 ranked Cornell Big Red hosted ninth ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks featuring 2024 first rounder EJ Emery.
Kempf had one shot on goal, two blocked shots, and a plus-2 rating during Cornell’s 4-1 win. The 22-year-old made many solid defensive plays and stopped one shot from going in an open net to preserve Cornell’s lead in the third period. The senior defenseman has noticeably improved his skating with a more fluid stride and could be signed to an entry-level contract once his collegiate career comes to an end.
Emery finished the night with one shot on goal and an even rating.
On Saturday, Cornell entered the third period down 3-2, and came back to score three unanswered goals for a 5-3 win. Kempf was credited with an assist on Cornell’s first goal of the game at 2:59 of the first period when he fired a shot from the point and Jake Kraft stuffed in the rebound. It was Kempf’s first point of the season. Kempf added another shot on goal, and finished the night with three blocked shots and a plus-1 rating. Cornell begins ECAC conference play against Yale on November 8th and Brown on November 9th.
Emery had one shot on goal Saturday and received a penalty for “hit after whistle”. He finished minus-1 in the loss. North Dakota dropped to 3-4-0 overall, and will be back on the road November 8th and 9th against Minnesota Duluth.
Noah Laba returned to the lineup for Colorado College on Friday when they hosted Air Force. The junior center won 14 of 18 face-offs, and was credited with one shot on goal,in a 3-2 overtime win. According to @CCHockeyNews on “X”, Laba tweeked his ankle on Friday, resulting in him being out of the lineup for Saturday’s 6-1 win. Hopefully, Laba can come back for the set against Arizona State on Nov. 8 and 9.
Harvard University fell to Darmouth by a score of 2-1 in their first official game of the season on Friday night. Senior Zakary Karpa served as captain of the Crimson and registered one shot on goal. He won four of seven face-offs. Harvard travels to Princeton University on Friday, November 8th before a game against Quinnipiac University on Saturday, November 9th.
Freshman defenseman Rasmus Larsson was credited with four shots on goal for the Northern Michigan Wildcats in their 3-0 loss to Michigan Tech when they opened CCHA conference play Friday night. Larsson also recorded three blocked shots during the game and finished with an even rating. In the first period, he was charged with a slashing minor. Unfortunately, the Swede was out of the lineup Saturday with no word as to why. Hopefully we see him back on the blue line for Northern Michigan this weekend when the Wildcats host Lake Superior State for a pair of games.
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