Ranger prospects in action in Finland

Some New York Rangers prospect were in action as the Finnish Liiga kicked off its season

The Finnish Liiga began play on Friday with two New York Rangers prospects in action.  One player, Lauri Pajuniemi, caught the attention of Blueshirts management with a breakout season last year and the hope is that he will continue to show he can be an offensive force.

Pajuniemi plays for TPS Turku, Kaapo Kakko’s former Liiga team.   Turku played their home opener and dropped a 3-2 decision to Porin Ässät (Aces) before 2,150 fans.

Lauri Pajuniemi was at left wing on the top line and played 19:46 minutes,  second highest on the team.  He was held off the scoresheet and was on ice for one Aces goal so he finished with a plus/minus of -1.   He led all skaters from both team with an astonishing nine shots, seven on goal. In the obscure statistic category, he was also listed as the fastest skater on TPS, clocked at 33.81 kmh or 21 miles per hour.

Left wing Leevi Aaltonen was in action for KalPa (Kalevan Pallo) in their road opener versus Mikkelin Jukurit.  The the road team escaped with a 2-1 win.  Aaltonen played only 8:56 minutes, fewest of any KalPa player. He took four shots and wasn’t on ice for any goals.

Two more propects were in action in the Swedish  Allsvenskan League, the second tier professional league in Sweden.  2018 second round draft pick Olof Lindbom was in net for Mora and stopped 23 of 26 shot as Mora defeated Karlskoga 4-3.  Of the three goals, one was on the power play.

Defenseman Jacob Ragnarsson played for Timra in their 4-1 loss to Björklöven.

The Czech Extraliiga game between Libor Hajek’s Olomouc and HC Verva Litvínov was postponed and goalie Adam Huska didn’t see action in the Slovakian Tipsort League game between Zvolen vs HC Košice

Saturday there is a full slate of games in the Swedish Hockey League.