Avalanche Farm Report: March 19

Spotlight On: Nikolai Kovalenko, RW, Yaroslavl (KHL)

Kovalenko represented his native, Russia, in the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship, helping the team earn a bronze medal with a goal and two assists in six games.

Colorado Eagles

The Colorado Avalanche's AHL Affiliate saw its nine-game win streak come to an end this week after winning its first three matchups.
The Eagles began the week by sweeping a back-to back set against the Ontario Reign, starting with a 5-1 victory on Tuesday. A.J. Greer (one goal, one assist) and Dominic Toninato (two assists) each contributed multi-point outings while Mason Geertsen and Julien Nantel also tallied. Mark Alt, Sergei Boikov, Martin Kaut and Scott Kosmachuk each registered a helper in the win. As a team, the Eagles killed off all three penalties they took and Pavel Francouz made 27 saves between the pipes.
The following night, Toninato opened the scoring with a short-handed tally and Sheldon Dries netted another goal for the Eagles. The contest went to overtime where Kaut tallied to give Colorado a 3-2 win. Greer and David Warsofsky each picked up assists in the victory while Francouz stood tall and stopped 31 shots. The penalty-killing unit was perfect once again, stopping all four Ontario power plays.
Saturday night saw the Eagles' win streak reach nine games with a 3-2 victory against the San Jose Barracuda. Logan O'Connor (one goal, one assist), and Max McCormick (two assists) led the way with multi-point nights while Dries and Igor Shvyrev each netted a goal. Greer also recorded an assist on the night as Francouz stopped 23 shots.
The Eagles fell 9-0 on Sunday as the nine-game winning streak came to an end. Pavel Francouz made 20 saves in the game and Spencer Martin stopped 11 shots in relief.
The Eagles share second in the Pacific Division and are tied for fifth in the Western Conference with a 33-23-4 record (70 points) this season.
Upcoming Games:
March 22 vs. Manitoba Moose
March 23 vs. Manitoba Moose
March 29 at Tucson Roadrunners

Utah Grizzlies (ECHL)

On Thursday, the Grizzlies fell 2-1 to the Rapid City Rush as the club out-shot its opponent 43-26. Utah recovered to capture a 5-2 win on Saturday as the team went a perfect 5-for-5 on the penalty kill unit. Netminder Joe Cannata made 31 saves in the victory. Cannata was also in net on Monday in a 4-3 loss in which Utah scored all three of its goals on the power play. Defenseman Josh Anderson skated in all three contests.

NCAA

University of Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish advanced to the Big Ten Tournament final with a 2-1 overtime win against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday night. Cam Morrison tallied the regulation marker for Notre Dame while Nate Clurman registered two shots on goal. Nick Leivermann did not play in the contest. The Irish will play the Penn State Nittany Lions for the Big Ten title on Saturday.
Shane Bowers (Boston University): Bowers helped the Terriers to a 2-1 series win over UMass Lowell in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. The forward registered an assist in a 3-0 win in Game 1 and put three shots on net in a 6-4 loss in Game 2. Bowers had a plus-1 rating in the series-clinching 4-1 victory on Sunday, which qualified Boston for the semifinal matchup with Northeastern University on Friday.
Cale Makar (University of Massachusetts): Makar helped the Minutemen advance to the Hockey East Semifinals with points in both wins against the University of New Hampshire this week. The blueliner scored the game-tying marker in the third period of the 5-4 double-overtime win on Friday and tallied a goal and two assists in the series-clinching 6-0 win the following night. UMass will face Boston College on Saturday in Boston.
Sampo Ranta (University of Minnesota): The Finnish forward rounded out his freshman season for the Golden Gophers with a goal in a 2-1 overtime loss to Notre Dame in the Big Ten Semifinals on Saturday. Ranta finished his first season in college hockey with 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 36 games for Minnesota.
Denis Smirnov (Penn State University): Smirnov recorded two shots on goal as the Nittany Lions took down the top-seed in the conference, Ohio State, with a 5-1 victory in the Big Ten semifinal round on Sunday. Penn State will face Notre Dame for the conference title on Saturday.
Tyler Weiss (University of Nebraska-Omaha): The Raleigh, North Carolina, native saw his freshman season come to a close after the Mavericks dropped two straight games to the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the NCHC tournament. The team fell 2-1 in overtime on Friday and the Avalanche prospect assisted on Nebraska's only goal in a 4-1 loss on Saturday. Weiss produced 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 25 games after missing the first part of the season due to injury.

OHL

Brandon Saigeon (Oshawa Generals): Saigeon helped the Oshawa Generals finish the OHL regular season on a high note as the team won all three of its games this week to land at second n the East Division. Oshawa beat the Kingston Frontenacs 3-2 on Wednesday and 6-1 on Friday with Saigeon sharing a team-high, four shots on goal. On Sunday, the Generals defeated the Sudbury Wolves 8-2 behind four helpers from the Grimsby, Ontario, native. Saigeon finished the regular season with a career-best 92 points (37 goals, 55 assists),12th in the OHL, in 68 games split between the Hamilton Bulldogs and Oshawa Generals. Oshawa will take on the Peterborough Petes in the first round of the OHL playoffs, starting the seven-game series on Friday.

WHL

Nick Henry (Lethbridge Hurricanes): Henry rounded out his WHL regular season on a 12-game point streak (eight goals, 12 assists) thanks to a helper in a 4-3 win against the Red Deer Rebels on Friday and a two-goal game in a 3-2 victory over the Medicine Hat Tigers on Saturday. His 94 points (29 goals, 65 assists) rank seventh in the league and came in 69 games split between the Regina Pats and Lethbridge Hurricanes. Lethbridge finished second in the Central Division and advances to the WHL playoffs where they will begin a best-of-seven series against the Calgary Hitmen on Friday.

KHL

Nikolai Kovalenko (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL): In the first three contests of a best-of-seven series against SKA St. Petersburg in the second round of the KHL playoffs, Lokomotiv Yaroslavl is behind 2-1. Kovalenko did not dress in a 1-0 loss on Wednesday, but was in the lineup for Game 2 when the team fell 6-1 on Friday. Kovalenko registered a helper in the club's 3-1 victory on Sunday to push the series to 2-1. Game 4 is schedule for Tuesday.

Russia Jr.

Danila Zhuravlyov (Bars Kazan, VHL): Zhuravlyov wrapped up the regular season with Irbis Kazan of Russia's junior league after completing the Supreme Hockey League (VHL) season with Bars Kazan. The 18-year-old defenseman finished his first full year of pro hockey with Bars Kazan by registering five points (five assists) through 40 outings. His club missed the playoffs after losing the tiebreaker in the standings. He then skated in the final four regular season games for Irbis Kazan, which also missed the postseason. Zhuravlyov earned a bronze medal with Russia at the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championship where he registered one assist in seven contests.
Shamil Shmakov (Sibirskie Snaipery, MHL): Shmakov's season came to an end on March 1 after Sibirskie Snaipery failed to qualify for the playoffs. In 23 appearances with Sibirskie this season, Shmakov posted a 7-11-1 record with a .915 save percentage and 2.57 goals-against average. He was named the MHL Goaltender of the Month (East) for November after posting a .963 save percentage, 0.99 goals-against average and 5-0 record in seven games played.

Czech Republic

Petr Kvaca (Ceske Budejovice, Czech 2): Kvaca was in net on Friday and led Ceske to a 2-0 shutout against VHK Robe Vsetin in the semifinal playoff matchups. The Czech netminder made 24 saves in a 2-0 whitewash and served as the backup goaltender in his team's 6-0 win the following night. Game 3 is set for Tuesday and Game 4 is scheduled for Wednesday.

Finland

Justus Annunen (Karpat, Liiga): Annunen made his Liiga season debut for Karpat and stopped 18 shots in a 4-3 overtime loss to Kalpa. He also served as the backup netminder for Karpat om Tuesday in a 3-2 win over the Pelicans. The 19-year-old recorded a 13-8-0 record with a 2.77 goals-against average and .891 save percentage for Hermes of the Mestis League during the regular season this year. Hermes opens its first-round playoff series with KeuPa HT on Tuesday while Karpat will face Lynx to begin the postseason in a series that starts on Friday.

Sweden

Adam Werner (Farjestad BK, SHL): Werner saw action in one of Farjestad BK's two games this week. The club beat Lulea 3-0 on Tuesday with Werner serving as the backup, and fell to Djurgarden 3-2 in a shootout on Thursday as the Swedish netminder made 17 saves in regulation and overtime. Werner has appeared in 26 contests with Farjestad this year, producing a 15-6-3 record, 2.02 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. The club advances to the SHL playoffs that and play HV71 in the first round, beginning on Friday.
Gustav Olhaver (Tingsryds AIF, Allsvenskan): In his first season with Tingsryds AIF, Olhaver generated eight points (four goals, four assists) in 51 appearances. His season came to a close last week as the club failed to reach the playoffs. Olhaver's 51 games played were a career-high for the 21-year-old.