Five point effort by Abramov leads Blue Jackets Prospects in opener at Traverse City

The five Midwest-based NHL Prospect Teams opened play at the Matthew Wuest Memorial Cup Tournament in Traverse City on Friday (Sept. 8, 2017).

Eight teams in total are taking part – four (Chicago BlackHawks, Detroit Red Wings, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers) competing in the Gordie Howe Division while the other four (Columbus Blue Jackets, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars) are battling in the Ted Lindsay Division.

Teams began round robin play in their respective divisions on Friday and the Columbus Blue Jackets once again looked like one of the powers, opening with a 7-2 win against the Stars. Other Lindsay Division play saw the Wild rallying with a huge final 20-minutes to get by the Blues 6-5.

Howe Division play had the Rangers edging the Hawks 3-2 while the Hurricanes dumped the Wings – host team of the event, 6-2.

Blue Jackets 7 Stars 2

Vitaly Abramov, 19, a Third Round (65^th Overall) selection of the Blue Jackets in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft led the potent charge for the Jackets in this one. The Russian Winger, slated to return to Gatineau of the QMJHL, racked up two goals and three points in the Prospects Tournament opener.

Calvin Thurkauf, 20, from Switzerland and a Seventh Round (185^th Overall) Selection of the Jackets at the same NHL Draft chipped in three assists while the team’s Second Round Pick (38^th Overall), Paul Bittner 20, from Crookston, MN and Pierre-Luc Dubois, 19, from Quebec, a First Round (Third Overall) pick in 2016, both fired a pair of goals.

Bobby MacIntyre, 21, from Ontario, a free agent who wrapped up a five-year OHL stint collecting 80 points (28g, 52a) for the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds, fired the other Columbus goal.

Niklas Hansson, a 22-Year-Old native of Sweden, selected in the Third Round (68^th Overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft by the Stars and Nick Caamano, 18, from Ontario – taken in the Fifth Round (146^th Overall) this past summer had the Dallas goals.

Matiss Kivlenieks, 21 from Latvia, signed as a free agent this summer by the Jackets, picked up the win in goal with a 19-save effort and Landon Bow, 22, from Alberta, made 21 saves in goal for the Stars.

Wild 6 Blues 5

The Blues entered the final 20 minutes of its opener with a 4-1 lead and Klim Kostin, a First Round Pick (31^st Overall) of the Blues at the 2017 NHL Draft, expanded it with his second goal of the game 4:38 into the final frame.

But the Wild put together an unreal run down the stretch, starting with a goal by Luke Kunin, 19, from St. Louis, MO, First Round Pick (15^th Overall) by the Wild in 2016, scored with 9:06 to go and culminating with another Kunin goal with 62 seconds to go, giving the Wild Prospects its first and only lead of the contest.

In between were three other goals – two of them with an extra attacker on the ice and goaltender Adam Vay, 23, from Hungary on the Minnesota bench.

Joel Eriksson-Ek, the Wild’s First Round Pick (20^th Overall) in 2015 got the Wild to within two goals with 3:58 to play and 54 seconds later, 24, from Wyandotte, MI connected with the Wild net empty.

Giorgio Estephan, originally a Sixth-round pick (152^nd Overall) by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, tied things up with his goal 95 seconds from the final buzzer.

The other Wild marker came from Ivan Lodnia, 18, from California, selected by the Wild in the Third Round (85^th Overall) this summer.

Mackenzie MacEachern, 23, from Bloomfield Hills, MI and a Third Round selection (67^th Overall) in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, opened the scoring with the only goal of the opening period for the Blues. Second period goals came from Alexey Toropchenko, 18, from Russia, selected in the Third Round (113^th Overall) by the Blues in June; defenseman Niko Mikkola, 21, from Finland, a Selected in the Fifth Round (127^th Overall) in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and Kostin.

Vay made 24 stops to pick up the win in goal for Minnesota and Evan Fitzpatrick, 19, from Nova Scotia and a Second Round (59^th Overall) by the Blues at the 2016 NHL Draft, made 21 stops for the Blues.

Rangers 3 BlackHawks 2

The BlackHawks attempted a third period rally as well, trailing 3-0 entering the final 20, but fell a goal short.

Alex DeBrincat, a highly anticipated player for the Hawks who now doubt will get a good look at training camp, set up the first goal and scored the second for the Hawks – both in the final five minutes of the contest.

DeBrincat, a 19-year-old forward from Farmington Hills, MI was drafted by the Hawks in the Second Round (39^th Overall) of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft returned for a third year in the OHL with the Erie Otters where he wrapped up a 191-game run with 332 points (167g, 165a).

Carl Dahlstrom, a 22-Year-Old Defenseman from Sweden, selected in the Second Round (51^st Overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft by the BlackHawks, fired the other Chicago goal.

Malte Stromwell, 23, from Sweden, Ryan Gropp, 20, from British Columbia (Second Round 41^st Overall Selection by the Rangers at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft) and Sean Day, 19 (Third Round, 81^st Overall Selection of the Rangers at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft), scored the Rangers’ goals.

Chris Nell, 23, from Green Bay, WI handled 28 of 30 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rangers Prospects while Collin Delia, 23, from California, made 23 saves for the BlackHawks.

Hurricanes 6 Red Wings 2

A pair of goals from Dominik Shine, 24, from Pinckney, MI pulled the Wings even with the Canes early in the second at 2-2, but that was as close as the Wings would get in this one.

Up 2-0 after a period, the Hurricanes got a goal from Nicolas Roy, 20, from Quebec, a Fourth Round (96^th Overall) pick by Carolina at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft to pull away for good later in the second.

Janne Kuokkanen, 19, from Finland, a Second Round (43^rd Overall) selection of the Canes at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and Martin Necas, 18, from Czech Republic, the team’s First Round (11^th Overall) pick this summer, had the first period goals for the Hurricanes. Third period insurance markers came from Warren Foegele, 21, from Ontario, a Third Round (67^th Overall Pick) by the Hurricanes in 2014; Julien Gauthier, 19, from Quebec, a First Round (21^st Overall) Selection by the Canes in 2016 and Nick Schilkey, 23, from Marysville, MI scored the third period goals.

Callum Booth, 23, from Quebec, and a Fourth Round (93^rd Overall) Selection by the Hurricanes at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, turned aside 34 of 36 Wings’ chances to collect the win while Matej Machovsky, 24, from Czech Republic, made 18 stops in goal for the Wings.

The second round of games with the Howe Division playing the early games this time. The Hurricanes will take on the Rangers while the Wings will tangle with the BlackHawks. Lindsay Division matches will have the Dallas Stars taking on the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild squaring off against the Columbus Blue Jackets.