It seems as if the gifted playmaker has mastered the flip-pass to himself, showing that skill again late in the second period as the ICE scored their first of four unanswered tallies. Reinhart finishes the month with eight goals and four assists in six games, while his third-period scrap with Team Canada teammate Josh Morrissey was his first ever in 182 career WHL games. He'll enter February with 62 points (24+38) and a nine-game point streak.
Prince Albert forward Leon Draisaitl notched an assist in the loss to the ICE to get him to the 60-point mark in his 43rd game. Draisaitl has nine points (1+8) in 10 games since returning from the World Junior Championship, but is currently amidst a career-long nine-game goal drought.
In the OHL, Central Scouting's top North American skater, Kingston's Sam Bennett, gathered the game winning goal and two assists to lead the Frontenacs to a 3-2 victory at Plymouth. The physical affair saw Bennett ring up eight minutes in penalties via cross checking, slashing, roughing, and goalie interference calls - all in the final period of play.
Spencer Watson (#43 NA CSS) opened the game's scoring with his 26th of the year, with Bennett making a dropoff behind the net to draw the secondary helper and first of his three points. Bennett's second assist came after a sensational stop by Central's fifth-rated North American netminder Alex Nedeljkovic, while his 28th goal of the year with :52 to play proved to be the clutch dagger.
In the same game, Kingston's highly rated defenseman Roland McKeown wasn't able to add to his 32 points on the year, but did add to his penalty minute total thanks to his part in sparking a five-on-five melee in the second period. The fight was the second of his 107 OHL games. Last February, McKeown got into it with fellow 2014 eligible Jared McCann.
Aaron Ekblad connected from the point for his 16th goal of the season in Barrie's 6-4 win over Kitchener. Ekblad's low, hard blast came with the man advantage, giving the 6-foot-4 rearguard 12 power play markers on the season. Brendan Lemieux, son of former NHLer Claude, cut for the the game winning goal to up his season line to 17-17-34.
Michael Dal Colle collected his 32nd goal but it was all Oshawa could muster in a 5-1 home ice loss to North Bay. Dal Colle began January with season-long six-game goal slumber, but rebounded nicely to finish the month with five goals in his last five games.
In the QMJHL, Nikolaj Ehlers added his 30th goal plus an assist to his impressive draft resume as Halifax edged Shawinigan 4-3. Ehlers has played alongside Jonathan Drouin en route to capturing 70 points in 47 games.
WHL scorer Jake Virtanen lit the lamp for the 32rd time this season, making a nice power move to get the unassisted finish to help Calgary to a 7-4 win over Brandon. Wheat Kings winger Jayce Hawryluk showed his quick release on the power play in the game's final minute, and now has 15 goals and and 45 points in 45 games.
In Guelph, Nikolay Goldobin acted quickly off a draw to get his 33rd goal as Sarnia was hammered by the Storm 6-1. Fellow draft eligible scorer Robby Fabbri finished off a give-and-go on the power play late to get him to the 30-goal mark in just 39 games.
In Red Deer, Reid Duke snapped a 10-game goal drought with his first two-goal game of the year as Lethbridge edged Red Deer 6-5 in a shootout. Duke, who started the season goalless in his first 13 games, has 11 goals this season. The six-footer was rated the 65th North American skater on CSS's midterm list.
Keegan Iverson scored his 14th of the year on the pwer play as Portland streamrolled Spokane 6-0. Iverson, who appeared in the 2013 All-American Prospects Game, was right ahead of Duke as the 64th rated North American on the CSS list.
