Tuesday's hockey: Westland's Hayes brothers chase Memorial-Cup host Saginaw
With only three games remaining in the Ontario Hockey League season, the odds are against Westland's Gavin and Travis Hayes of the Soo Greyhounds catching the first-place Saginaw Spirit in the West Division.
The Greyhounds trail the Spirit by five points and have to win the last three games and hope Saginaw loses every game in the final week of the regular season.
Gavin Hayes, a third-round pick by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2022 NHL draft, is a 6-2, 180-pound right winger. He's 19 years old and leads the team with 37 goals in 53 games.
Travis Hayes is only 16 and has 14 goals in 50 games. He's a 5-11, 170-pound right winger who had 34 goals in 63 games with Detroit Compuware U15s last year.
The Greyhounds also feature Detroit Red Wings draft pick Andrew Gibson of LaSalle, Ontario. A second-round selection in 2023, the 6-4, 206-pound defenseman has 41 points, nearly twice as many points (21) as last season.
No matter what happens in the West Division race this week, the Soo will have to win the OHL title to face the Spirit in the Memorial Cup in Saginaw from May 24-June 2.
As the host of the Memorial Cup, which includes the champions of the three Canadian Hockey Leagues (OHL, Western Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League), the Spirit automatically qualify for the round-robin tournament.
Saginaw dealt 12 draft picks before the trade deadline and now have 10 players with NHL connections, including Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck (33 goals).
The Soo acquired Gavin Hayes from Flint for two players and four draft picks. Hayes and Gibson are two of six NHL-drafted players in the Greyhounds' lineup.
The Hayes' brothers are also two of 14 Michigan-area players on OHL rosters this year. Here's how the local players have done this year.
Local hockey players in the OHL
Guelph Storm
▶ LW Max Namestnikov (Wolverine Lake)
24 goals, 22 assists, 46 points, 64 games
▶ D Thomas Budnick (Petoskey)
3 goals, 16 assists, 19 points, 59 games
Kingston Frontenacs
▶ D Roman Schmidt (Midland)
6 goals, 23 assists, 29 points, 45 games
Mississauga Steelheads
▶ RW Dean Loukus (Calumet)
17 goals, 31 assists, 48 points, 65 games
Saginaw Spirit
▶ RW Liam Storch (Rochester Hills)
1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points, 22 games
▶ D PJ Forgione (Novi)
4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points, 39 games
▶ G Andrew Oke (Shelby Township)
27-10-2 record, 2.94 goals against average, .890 save percentage
Sarnia Sting
▶ C Zach Filak (Northville)
22 goals, 14 assists, 36 points, 58 games
▶ LW Dennis Lominac (Commerce Township)
3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points, 55 games
▶ D Nick Surzycia (Oakland Township)
0 goals/assists, 0 points, 49 assists
Soo Greyhounds
▶ RW Travis Hayes (Westland)
14 goals, 20 assists, 34 points, 55 games
▶ RW Gavin Hayes (Westland)
37 goals, 39 assists, 76 points, 53 games
Windsor Spitfires
▶ C Ryan Abraham (Livonia)
29 goals, 31 assists, 60 points, 61 games
Tuesday's NHL games
Tampa Bay 5, (at) Vegas 3: Brayden Point scored two third-period goals and Nikita Kucherov had a four-point night to lift the Tampa Bay to a victory over Las Vegas Golden Knights in a battle of teams fighting for playoff positioning.
With his 37th and 38th goals, Point has eight points against the Knights over the past three meetings. Kucherov had a goal and three assists to extend his point streak to 11 games and overtake Colorado’s Nathan McKinnon with an NHL-best 118 points.
Anthony Cirelli and Anthony Duclair scored the other goals for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves. Steven Stamkos had two assists, giving him a six-game point streak.
Jonathan Marchessault, Brett Howden and Ben Hutton each scored for Vegas. Marchessault’s goal was his team-best 38th, also a career high, that came in his 500th career game for the Knights. Keegan Kolesar had two assists, Shea Theodore expanded his point streak to five games with an assist and Adin Hill stopped 16 shots.
(At) Vancouver 3, Buffalo 2: Elias Pettersson had two goals and an assist as Vancouver moved atop the Western Conference standings with a win over the Buffalo.
Conor Garland scored and Quinn Hughes and J.T. Miller each had a pair of assists for the Canucks who lead the West at 43-18-8, one point ahead of the Winnipeg Jets and Colorado Avalanche.
Vancouver goalie Casey DeSmith made 16 saves in his first victory since starter Thatcher Demko was sidelined by injury last week.
Rasmus Dahlin scored twice for the Sabres (33-32-5), who were coming off a 6-2 win over the Kraken in Seattle on Monday. Buffalo fell five points behind the Detroit Red Wings, who hold the second wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference.
(At) Nashville 8, San Jose 2: Michael McCarron scored two goals, Roman Josi and Filip Forsberg each had a goal and two assists and the Nashville beat the San Jose, extending the team’s point streak to a franchise record-tying 15 games.
Jason Zucker, Luke Evangelista, Mark Jankowski and Tommy Novak also scored and Juuse Saros made 18 saves for Nashville, which is 13-0-2 over its last 15 games. Kiefer Sherwood and Ryan McDonagh had three assists each. Nashville was 14-0-1 between Feb. 19 and March 19, 2018.
Mario Ferraro had a goal and an assist, Mikael Granlund also scored and Magnus Chrona made 32 saves for San Jose, 1-12-2 over its last 15.
Colorado 4, (at) St. Louis 3: Mikko Rantanen scored three goals to lead surging Colorado to a victory over St. Louis.
Rantanen scored a goal in each period for his seventh career hat trick and first since April 6, 2023, at San Jose. He had 37 goals this season and 14 points in his last six games.
Casey Mittelstadt also scored for the Avalanche, who won four straight on their current road trip and their seventh straight overall. Colorado has outscored its opponents 31-13 during the streak. Colorado’s win streak is the longest active run in the NHL. Justus Annunen made 30 saves.
Nathan Walker, Alexey Toropchenko and Brayden Schenn scored for St. Louis, which had its four-game win streak halted. The Blues, who are sixth in the Central Division, are four points out of the second, and final, wild-card spot behind Vegas. Jordan Binnington had 31 saves.
(At) Edmonton 3, Montreal 2 (OT): Connor McDavid scored and set up Leon Draisaitl’s game-winning power-play goal at 3:18 of overtime to lead Edmonton to a victory over Montreal.
Adam Henrique also scored and Mattias Edholm added two assists as the Oilers won for the eighth times in 11 games (8-1-2). Calvin Pickard had 23 saves.
Nick Suzuki and Kaiden Guhle scored in the third period as Montreal rallied from a two-goal deficit to force the overtime. Sam Montembeault made 29 saves for the Canadiens, who have lost three straight games, including two in overtime.
Minnesota 4, (at) Anaheim 0: Filip Gustavsson recorded his third shutout this season, Kirill Kaprizov extended his point streak to eight games with the 150th goal of his NHL career and Minnesota beat the Anaheim for the second time in six days.
Gustavsson stopped 27 shots for his sixth career shutout. Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist while Jon Merrill and Jacob Lucchini also scored.
Minnesota has won four of its last five and picked up a point in its eighth straight game, going 6-0-2.
John Gibson made 28 saves as Anaheim dropped its seventh straight and was blanked for the third time in four games, including a 2-0 loss at Minnesota on March 14.
(At) L.A. Kings 6, Chicago 2: Anze Kopitar had two goals and an assist, Cam Talbot made 22 saves and Los Angeles defeated Chicago.
Alex Laferriere, Vladislav Gavrikov, Phillip Danault and Trevor Lewis also scored. Adrian Kempe had three assists and the Kings followed up their 5-0 win in Chicago on Friday with another big victory.
Nick Foligno and Kevin Korchinski scored and Petr Mrazek made 18 saves for the Blackhawks, who have lost 24 of their last 25 road games.
(At) New Jersey 5, Pittsburgh 2: Jake Allen made 36 saves, and Timo Meier and Dawson Mercer each scored twice to lead the New Jersey to a 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh.
Alexander Holtz also scored, and Jesper Bratt, Tomas Nosek, Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes each had two assists as New Jersey won for the third time in eight games under interim coach Travis Green.
Marcus Pettersson and Bryan Rust (Pontiac) scored for Pittsburgh. Goaltender Tristan Jarry made 33 saves for the Penguins, who lost for the ninth time in 12 games and for the 11th time in 13 road games.
Pittsburgh is winless in seven games New Jersey (0-6-1) dating to Feb. 24, 2022.
(At) Philadelphia 4, Toronto 3: Owen Tippett scored 19 seconds into the game and added an assist, and Morgan Frost had a goal and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Tuesday night.
Travis Sanheim and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who played without captain Sean Couturier, who was a healthy scratch for the first time in his 13-year career. Samuel Ersson, who was pulled in two of his previous three starts, made 27 saves, including a stop of Bobby McCann on a short-handed breakaway in the second period.
The Flyers had lost three of four entering the game and allowed 19 goals in their three losses.
Facing a three-goal deficit at the start of the third period, Toronto tried to mount a comeback. William Nylander scored on a power play and Tyler Bertuzzi and John Tavares added goals.
Winnipeg 4, (at) N.Y. Rangers 3: Mark Scheifele scored three goals, Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce Township) made 37 saves and Winnipeg beat the New York 4-2.
Kyle Connor (Michigan) also scored for the Jets, who have won three straight and four of their last five. Winnipeg is 14-5-0 since Feb. 8 and 19-5-4 against the Eastern Conference this season. Hellebuyck improved to 16-4-2 against the East this season and is 32-15-3 overall.
Alexander Wennberg and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers, who lost for the second time in seven games.
(At) Boston 6, Ottawa 2: David Pastrnak scored two goals less than three minutes apart in the first period and then completed his hat trick in the third to lead Boston past Ottawa Senators.
Pastrnak picked up his 17th regular season three-goal game and passed team president Cam Neely for No. 7 on the Bruins’ all-time scoring list with 345 career goals.
Justin Brazeau scored twice, Jesper Boqvist had a goal and Kevin Shattenkirk had three assists as the Bruins won their third straight. Linus Ullmark finished with 30 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and Shane Pinto scored for the Senators, who have lost two in a row following a three-game winning streak. Joonas Korpisalo had a rough night, allowing all six goals on 26 shots as a close game through two periods became a rout in the third.
Carolina 4, (at) N.Y. Islanders 1: Seth Jarvis scored twice and Carolina raced to a three-goal lead in the first period on the way to a 4-1 win over the New York Islanders.
Trade-deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel had a three-point night with a goal and two assists for Carolina, Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves as the Hurricanes won their fourth straight game and tied a franchise record with their sixth consecutive road win. Martini Necas also scored and Brady Skjei added two assists.
Kyle Palmieri scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin finished with 31 saves for the Islanders, who lost their fifth straight and have been outscored 20-6 during the stretch.
Playoff tracker
Atlantic
▶ Bruins (97)
▶ Panthers (94)
▶ Maple Leafs (85)
Metropolitan
▶ Rangers (94)
▶ Hurricanes (92)
▶ Flyers (78)
Wild card
▶ Lightning (80)
▶ Red Wings (76)
(Top two wild-card teams make the playoffs)
▶ Capitals (75)
▶ Islanders (73)
▶ Sabres (71)
▶ Devils (70)
▶ Penguins (69)
Manitoba 5, Grand Rapids 1
Elmer Soderblom scored his 50th career goal in the American Hockey League in Grand Rapids' 5-1 loss against the Manitoba Moose in a Tuesday afternoon game at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Taro Hirose's assist streak ended at three games and goalie Michael Hutchinson made 17 saves. The two teams will meet again on Wednesday night.
Griffins sign 6-5 goalie Gylander
The Grand Rapids Griffins signed goaltender Carter Gylander to an amateur tryout for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Gylander, a seventh-round pick by the Red Wings in 2019, also signed a two-year, entry-level contract with Detroit that will begin during the 2024-25 campaign.
Last weekend, Gylander completed his senior season at Colgate University with a 14-14-4 record, a 2.93 goals against average and a .901 save percentage in 32 games.
The 6-foot-5 netminder logged 106 appearances with Colgate from 2020-24, totaling a 46-46-13 ledger with five shutouts to go along with a 2.69 goals against average and a .907 save percentage.
The 22-year-old was honored as the 2023 ECAC Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player when he backstopped Colgate to its first conference title since 1990.
Michigan-area hockey this week
Tuesday
▶ Red Wings 4, Columbus 3 (OT)
▶ Manitoba 5, Grand Rapids 1
Wednesday
▶ Grand Rapids at Manitoba, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
Thursday
▶ N.Y. Islanders at Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)
Friday
▶ Michigan Tech at Bermidji State, 8
▶ NTDP U17's at Green Bay, 8
Saturday
▶ Red Wings at Nashville, 5 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids at Rockford, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Michigan at Michigan State, 8 (Big Ten)
▶ NTDP U17's at Madison, 8