The Los Angeles Kings’ top pick in 2020 is finding his groove in the American Hockey League (AHL) and continued his goal-scoring streak. A full slate in the Western Hockey League (WHL) gave us great performances from a defensive prospect of the Minnesota Wild and a Calgary Flames hopeful between the pipe. We even got a goalie goal in the United States Hockey League (USHL).
Quinton Byfield Stays Red Hot
There are not as many teenagers in the AHL as there were to begin the season as all the WHL prospects have returned to their respective teams. However, players from the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) are still playing professionally. One such player is Byfield, the second overall pick of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Kings. After a bit of an adjustment, the youngster is starting to show why he was taken as high as he was.
Byfield and the Ontario Reign had a crazy game versus the Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton Oilers) on Saturday night. The young power forward did his thing by getting into the dirty area of the ice and putting his team up 2-1 late in the first period.
Unfortunately for the Reign, the Condors scored five unanswered goals in the third period to pull out an 8-6 victory. It was a good night individually for a group of young players the Kings are hoping will be a part of their team for a long time to come. Alex Turcotte had two assists, Arthur Kaliyev scored a goal and Akil Thomas picked up a helper.
Byfield is up to four goals and 11 points on the season. He has scored a goal in each of his last three games and is on a four-game point streak after just one goal and seven points in his first 14 AHL games.
Daemon Hunt Contributes from the Blue Line
The Moose Jaw Warriors scored four power-play goals on Saturday night on their way to beating the Swift Current Broncos 5-1. Hunt scored the third and fourth of those power-play tallies, less than a minute apart, in the third period to put the game out of reach. He also assisted on the first two to finish the night with four points.
“Our power play was really good tonight,” Hunt said after the game. “In the third period, we really took over. It’s definitely a big win, but we still have a lot to work on, for sure. Our record is 4-1 right now and we are feeling really good about ourselves. Of course, we have reset every day because it’s a busy schedule.”
Minnesota drafted hunt in the third round (65th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He was scoreless in his three AHL games with the Iowa Wild before returning to Moose Jaw. After no goals and 15 assists during the 2019-20 WHL season, he has four goals and seven points in five games in 2020-21.
Dustin Wolf Perfect in Season Debut
The Everett Silvertips are no stranger to having stud goaltenders after Carter Hart recently rewrote their record books. Their most recent prodigy between the pipes is Wolf, the Flames’ seventh-round (214th overall) in 2019.
The 19-year-old made his 2020-21 WHL debut on Saturday and he stopped all 22 shots he faced in a season-opening 2-0 win over the Spokane Chiefs.
This was the 21st shutout of Wolf’s junior career as he was named the Canadian Hockey League’s (CHL) Goaltender of the Year last season. The Tustin, CA native has now appeared in 183 career WHL games. He has a record of 89-31-4-2 with a .935 save percentage (SV%) and 1.83 goals-against average (GAA).
Todd Scott Scores a Goalie Goal
It’s unknown if Scott will ever be considered an NHL prospect or not, but the 20-year-old netminder had the thrill of a lifetime on Saturday night. He was all over the scoresheet as he made 19 saves and picked up two penalty minutes in the Tri-City Storm’s 7-4 victory over the Sioux Falls Stampede.
Scott capped off the scoring with a goal of his own after the Stampede pulled their netminder for an extra attacker.
The best part of this play is undoubtedly the celebration! Scott is undrafted and playing in the USHL as overage after three seasons in the WHL with the Vancouver Giants and Edmonton Oil Kings. In addition to his goal this season, he is 17-8-2 with a .904 SV%, 2.36 GAA and two shutouts.
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