Showing posts with label pysyk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pysyk. Show all posts

Saturday, October 13, 2012

10/12 Recap: Amerks open with win

Corey Tropp scored a pair of goals and Mark Mancari scored the only mark in the shootout as Rochester opened the 2012-13 season Friday with a 6-5 win over Syracuse.

Tropp lit the lamp in the game's opening minute when he tapped in a two-on-one feed from Cody Hodgson. Later in the period,  Tropp batted down a Luke Adam shot in front of the net and beat Dustin Tokarski to give the Amerks a 2-1 lead. Marcus Foligno scored shortly after Tropp's second goal to give the Amerks a 3-1 advantage at the first intermission.

Mark Pysyk notched his first professional goal in the second period before the Crunch went on to score four unanswered the take a 5-4 lead midway through the final frame. Mark Mancari rounded out the Rochester scoring to make it 5-5 with under four minutes to play in regulation to force the OT.

David Leggio made 29 saves and another five in the shootout to earn the win. Tropp suffered a lower body injury and is unlikely to play when the Amerks continue their opening weekend Saturday in Toronto.

In the QMJHL, Mikhail Grigorenko continued his superb start to the 2012-13 season by scoring two goals and an assist to extend his point streak to nine games as Quebec defeated Gatineau 4-1. The talented Russian currently ranks second in QMJHL scoring with eight goals and 20 points through the Remparts' first nine games. The Remparts are off until Wednesday's tilt with Saint John.


 In Finland, Joel Armia scored his sixth goal of the year as Assat doubled Tappara 4-2. The 6-foot-3 sniper got the Aces on the board when he cut to the net and directed a Michael Ryan pass past the Tappara netminder. The two clubs will play it back on Saturday.



Linus Ullmark made 30 saves as MODO J20 downed Leksands 6-2. Ullmark was making his return to SuperElit action after a three-week loan to Mora IK of HockeyAllsvenskan. MODO and Leksands will play a rematch on Saturday.

In the WHL, Colin Jacobs picked up an assist as Prince George downed Lethbridge 3-2. The helper extends Jacobs' season-starting point streak to a career-best eight games (7+7). The Cougars continue their road trip Saturday in Medicine Hat.

Logan Nelson saw his five-game point streak come to an end as Victoria lost to Kelowna 4-1. The Royals and Rockets will again face off Saturday in Victoria.

Andrey Makarov made 24 saves as Saskatoon lost to Kootenay 4-3. The Blades have lost five straight games to occupy last place in the East Division.

In OHL action, Brady Austin was +1 as Belleville pitched a 2-0 shutout of Brampton. The Bulls, who have secured five wins through the season's first eight games, return to the ice Saturday versus Oshawa.

Justin Kea logged a +1 as Saginaw smoked Sudbury 6-1. The Spirit moves on to face Brampton on Sunday.

Alex Lepkowski (-1) did not point as Barrie got past Oshawa 4-3 in a shootout. Barrie will host Sudbury on Saturday.

Christian Isackson scored his first goal of the year as Minnesota downed Michigan State 5-1. Skating with Florida prospects Nick Bjugstad and Kyle Rau, Isackson buried a wrist shot from the slot for the first regular season goal of his collegiate career. The Gophers and Spartans will conclude their opening weekend set on Saturday.


Brad Navin (2 SOG) and Jake McCabe (4 SOG) each went without a point as Wisconsin lost to Northern Michigan 2-1. McCabe was paired with Frankie Simonelli on the Badgers blueline after sitting out last weekend's tune-up win over the U.S. Under-18. Navin formed a line with Keegan Meuer and Brendan Woods. The Badgers will look for the weekend split on Saturday.

Mark Adams finished +1 as Providence opened the season with an 8-2 throttling of Sacred Heart. The Friars finish their weekend Saturday with a visit to Boston University.

Judd Peterson was +1 with three shots on goal as Cedar Rapids dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Muskegon. The RoughRiders take on Green Bay on Saturday.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

10/3 Recap: Amerks drop exhibition opener

Luke Adam, Phil Varone, and Brayden McNabb all had goals as the Rochester Americans opened the 2012 preseason Wednesday with a 4-3 home-ice loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Mark Mancari compiled three assists in his first game back in an Amerks sweater since 2007-08, while rookie Mark Pysyk added a pair of helpers from the blueline. David Leggio made 28 saves for the Amerks, who will complete the home-and-home series with the Baby Penguins on Friday. We'll have more on the Amerks as the AHL regular season approaches.

Elsewhere, Logan Nelson assisted on the game winning goal as Victoria slipped past Medicine Hat 4-3 in overtime. The Royals overcame a 3-0 deficit en route to moving into first place in the B.C. Division. Victoria (4-1-0-0) returns to action Friday at Spokane.


Justin Kea picked up an assist as Saginaw dropped a 6-5 see-saw battle with Sault Ste. Marie. The power forward prospect has three points (1+2) through the Spirit's first five games. Saginaw will host Niagara on Friday.



Andrey Makarov made 24 saves as Saskatoon lost to Red Deer 5-3. After scoring the game's first goal, Saskatoon surrendered four unanswered to slip to fifth place in East Division. The first goal allowed was an absolute highlight-reel play by Matt Dumba (MIN), who slipped to his knees but maintained control of the puck before roofing a shot over Makarov's shoulder. The Blades will tangle with Swift Current on Friday.


In Sweden, Linus Ullmark made 15 stops as Mora IK was defeated by Orebro HK 5-3. Ullmark allowed four goals against including one of the power play before Orebro potted an empty-netter to seal the win. Mora gets back at it Sunday versus Karlskrona HK.

Friday, May 25, 2012

5/24 Recap: Pysyk bows out

Mark Pysyk saw his excellent junior career come to an end Thursday as the Edmonton Oil Kings were hammered by the Shawinigan Cataractes 6-1 in the Memorial Cup 3rd place tiebreaker. The Oil Kings runs ends the most successful season in franchise history, while for the 20-year old Pysyk, the sting of defeat will soon pass with his NHL deal inked last June and the start of his pro career just a few short months away.

After falling in a 2-0 hole at the end of the opening frame, the Oil Kings quickly allowed two more goals within the first three minutes of the second to seal their fate. The steady leader helped create the Oil Kings lone goal of the night when his long pass out of the zone was corralled and fed to Henrik Samuelsson ('12) at 16:28 of the middle frame.



The Oil Kings competed admirably in the third, but the host team held their ground to storm their way into Friday's semifinal match-up with bitter QMJHL rival, Saint John.

Pysyk finished the tournament with three assists, and -3 rating, and 12 penalty minutes.

With the Sabres having eight defenseman (Myers, Ehrhoff, Sekera, Regehr, Leopold, Sulzer, Weber, McNabb) ready to compete for top club duty, Pysyk can comfortably enter the AHL next season and hone his all-around craft in quality minutes. He'll want to get bigger up top to gain more leverage, but overall his skating and two-way skills are close to ready. There's no rush to have him in Buffalo, though, so for now pencil him in for depth and figure he'll give the team some nice flexibility once his development spikes.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

5/21-22 Recap: Cup hopes take hit as Oil Kings drop pair

Mark Pysyk registered a shot on goal Tuesday as Edmonton was defeated by the London Knights 4-1 in their final round robin game of the 2012 Mastercard Memorial Cup. The Oil Kings, who fall to 1-2 in tournament play, are now in the tough spot of needing to defeat all three teams (tiebreaker, semifinal, final) in four nights in order to win the prestigious junior trophy.

For the second straight night, the Oil Kings fell behind early as Griffin Reinhart's failed drop pass led to a Ryan Rupert goal at 1:17. Things got tougher for the WHL champs minutes later when Pysyk was whistled for a high-sticking double minor. The Knights couldn't capitalize with the four-minute man advantage but did get another on the board shortly after as a trailing Bo Horvat batted in a Chris Tierney rebound for a 2-0 lead.

Keegan Lowe scored from the doorstep with 2.6 seconds left in the opening period, but it was all that Edmonton could muster as London would add two more goals over the final forty minutes while the OKs power play failed to connect on any of their six chances.

Edmonton will now face the loser of Wednesday's Shawinigan/Saint John tilt in the 3rd place tiebreaker game on Thursday for the right to keep playing.

On Monday, Pysyk recorded an assist as Edmonton suffered a loss 5-2 to Saint John. The Oil Kings loss created a Memorial Cup tournament first as all four teams finished their first two games with a 1-1 record.



The 6'2 Pysyk has three assists, a -3 rating, three shots on goal, and eight penalty minutes in the tourney's three games.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

5/19 Recap: Oil Kings open tourney with win

photo courtesy of The Canadian Press
Mark Pysyk picked up an assist Friday as the WHL Champion Edmonton Oil Kings opened the 2012 Memorial Cup with a 4-3 win over the host Shawinigan Cataractes. The teams combined for a five-goal third period capped by a Henrik Samuelsson ('12) game winner at 13:42. Griffin Reinhart ('12) notched a goal and an assist to earn the game's #1 star.

The teams traded goals in the opening twenty with the Cataractes' tally coming on the power play thanks to Pysyk's roughing penalty at 7:56. The bigger, stronger Pysyk defended his crease after the whistle (right), sending a Cat forward to the ice in the process and him to the box for 40-seconds before the Cats tied the game.

The tie would hold into the third period, but the gates quickly opened with Reinhart's goal at the 1:01 mark.

With the teams playing four-on-four, Pysyk drew two defenders his way before sliding a pass to Martin Gernat (EDM) for a wrister that upped the Oil Kings lead to 3-1 at 5:32.





The Cataractes kept the heat on with two goals to make it a 3-3 game before Samuelsson finished a nice three-way passing play to get his third game winner of the playoffs.

Pysyk, who rounded his effort with two hits, would again head to the box with just under five minutes to play, but this time his mates were able to kill the it off and preserve the lead the rest of the way.

The Oil Kings will now get the weekend off before facing the defending champion Saint John Sea Dogs on Monday.

Monday, May 14, 2012

5/13 Recap: Pysyk captains Oil Kings to WHL title

Mark Pysyk was a stalwart in big minutes Sunday, posting a healthy +3 rating as the Edmonton Oil Kings captured the Ed Chynoweth Trophy with a 4-1 win over the Portland Winterhawks in Game Seven of the WHL Championship. Over 12,500 fans in Rexall Place cheered loudly as Pysyk, a native Edmontonian, hoisted the franchise's first trophy since re-joining the WHL in 2007-08.

The valuable leader elevated his game at both ends of the rink in the final round. Along with managing the pace of play and scoring perhaps the biggest goal in franchise history with his Game Five winner, Pysyk leveraged his smarts and continued emergence of his physical game to neutralize the Hawks' top line of Sven Bartschi (CAL), Ty Rattie (STL), and Marcel Noebels (PHI) in the deciding game. He didn't get to win gold with Team Canada, but the big game experience kicked in when his team needed it.

For Pysyk, the championship completes a junior hockey voyage that began with him being the club's first-ever draft pick in 2007 and end as two-year captain. The face of the modern day Oil Kings since day one, Pysyk joins Tyler Myers (2009), Matt MacKenzie (2010), and Brayden McNabb (2011) to give the Sabres a WHL champion blueliner for the fourth straight year. He finishes the playoffs with three goals, including one shorthanded and a game winner, and 11 points.

Pysyk will add one more chapter to his junior resume by leading the Oil Kings into the 2012 Mastercard Memorial Cup. They'll open the tournament Friday (5/18) with a date against host Shawinigan, who haven't played since April 17th. Edmonton will then battle the defending champion Saint John Sea Dogs on Monday (5/21) before closing the round-robin against the OHL's London Knights on Tuesday (5/22).