A full schedule for Ranger prospects in Europe

The European leagues were back in action Tuesday and that meant New York Rangers prospects were playing hockey again

Most of European teams were on a hiatus the first ten days of November with international tournaments on the schedule.  Some were played, but other were cancelled due to COVID-19 and the panademic still is affecting the regular season schedules for many leagues.   Ten New York Rangers hopefuls were in action on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The KHL (Russia)

Both CSKA and Traktor were in action as the KHL resumed play for the first time since November 1.   Results were mixed for the two teams.

Traktor eked out a 2-1 overtime win over Metallurg  in front of 3,115 spectators in Chelyabinsk.  Vitali Kravtsov had an impact as he assisted on the winning goal.  The teams were tied 1-1 after regulation and Traktor won 2:43 into overtime on a goal by Ruslan Karlan.

It was a spectacular goal by Karlin, but it was Kravtsov (#74) who got the lose puck to his teammate for the rush.

For Kravtsov, it was his third assist on the season, giving him 11 points. It was his first assist since mid-September. Kravtsov had no shots on goal for the first time in 23 games, but added two hits and drew a penalty.

It was revenge time for Traktor as they had lost 5-1 to Metallurg in their last game.  With the win, Traktor is in fourth place in the East with 32 points, four points behind conference leader Ak Bars.

Yegor Rykov and CSKA also went to overtime, but they were on the losing side, dropping the game to Spartak. The game was played in CSKA Arena in Moscow in front of 2,603 spectators.  Rykov was scoreless, but he led all CSKA players in ice time, playing 21:38.

Rykov finished with a plus/minus of +1 and had one blocked shot.

CSKA still has a healthy eight point lead on second place SKA in the Western Conference and have lost only one in regulation in their last eight games.

SHL (Sweden)

There were three games involving four Rangers prospects and there was only winner in the group.

Two prospects were in action against each other in Frölunda’s 2-0 shutout over Luleå .  Karl Henriksson was on the winning side, playing 11:39 though he was scoreless with two shots on goal. He had one hit and one blocked shot.   Frölunda is the league leader with 29 points, one point ahead of Rögle.

For Nils Lundkvist and Luleå it was their second straight loss to Frölunda by a combined score of 6-1.  It was Luleå’s second loss of the season at home and Frölunda’s first road win since September 27.

You cannot say that Lundkvist didn’t try as he lead all players with seven shots on goal.  He played 21 minutes and finished with a plus/minus of -1.   The loss dropped Luleå into sixth place with 22 points though they have lost only two out of 11 games in regulation.

In another SHL game with a Rangers prospect, second place Rögle shut out Malmö 2-0.  With the win, they kept pace with Frölunda.  Ranger draft pick center Adam Edström took six shots with four ending up on goal.  He played 14:49 minutes.

In the last SHL game featuring a potential Blueshirt,   Calle Själin and Leksand lost to Färjestad in overtime, 3-2.  Själin, a defense prospect, had no points in 10:35 minutes of ice time though he did have two shots on goal.

Leksand is in tenth place in the SHL with 14 points.

Allsvenskan (Sweden)

Two games in the Allsvenskan League in Sweden featured Rangers prospects.

Olof LIndbom was in goal again Wednesday for Mora as they took on Karlskoga on the road in front of 50 fans. It was a pretty disastrous game as Karlskoga thrashed Mora 8-2.  Lindbom was pulled after allowing four even strength goals on 16 shots, three in the first period.  He was replaced after Karlskoga scored 3:22 into the second period for a 4-0 lead.

Defenseman Jakob Ragnarsson was  on the third pair defense for  Timrå in their road  game against Almtuna. a late start on Wednesday.

Liiga (Finland)

Rangers forward prospect Leevi Aaltonen had an assist in Kalpa’s 4-3 loss to SaiPa. Although Aaltonen played only 5;42, he assisted on Joona Riekkinen’s goal at 12:21 of the third period that knotted the score at 3-3.

The tie score held until there was only 1:46 left in the third period when Elmeri Kaksonen  of SaiPa won the game.  It was Aaltonen’s second point of the season, both assists.  It was the second straight loss for KalPa, currently in fourth place in Liiga.

On Wednesday, TPS and Lauri Pajuniemi lost to the Pelicans 4-3 in overtime. Pajuniemi had six shots on goal, second most on TPS and was minus one on the game, on ice for the first Pelicans goal.

TPS is off to a tough start with only three wins in 12 games.  They are in tenth place in Liiga.

Coronavirus issues

In Swedish junior hockey, Olive Tarnstrom’s AIK game was postponed due to COVID-19.   Two games later this week in the SHL featuring Rangers prospects have been postponed. Off the schedule are two games featuring  HV71 whose team has been hit by the virus.  HV71’s game against Luleå on Thursday and Leksand on Saturday have been postponed due to numerous positive tests in the HV71 organization.

In Slovakia, Adam Huska’s v.s. Zvolen team had a game scheduled  against 07 Detva, but that games was postponed due to the pandemic.