Springfield prospects break out in Iowa; Korotky scores in back to back games at SKA; Harenstam continues to seal the deal following gold medal run at WJC; Carbonneau gets two more points before streak ends
What a weekend it was for Springfield of the American Hockey League, and the St. Louis Blues prospects there were busy filling the net for coach Steve Ott.
The T-birds need points and went 4-for-4 against the Iowa Wild this past weekend, winning 6-3 on Friday and 8-6 on Saturday, two of Springfield's top offensive outputs of the season.
Let's round down who all had impacts for the Thunderbirds, who are now 18-24-4-2, good for 42 points in the Atlantic Division:
* Jakub Stancl -- The fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft had his first games with goals in back-to-back games in his AHL career and ended a 16-game goalless drought.
He would score one goal in the game on Friday:
And on Saturday, had this goal and two assists for his second three-point game in the AHL and now has 15 shots on goal the past 10 games:
Stancl, who has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) in 36 games, was a plus-4 in the two games against Iowa.
* Theo Lindstein -- The defenseman, a 2023 first-round pick (No. 29) had just three goals coming into the weekend but benefitted with goals in each game.
This one on Friday gave Springfield a 1-0 lead:
And one more on Saturday made it 6-3 and gave Lindstein 11 points (five goals, six assists) on the season in 48 games, earning a plus in each game in season where the plus-minus had added up (minus-25) getting top billing minutes and top matchups:
* Will Cranley -- The sixth-round pick in 2020 picked up his first AHL win in his second game this season and fifth of his career when he stopped 25 shots in the win on Friday.
The 23-year-old was having a heck of a season for Florida of the ECHL, going 14-3-1 with a 2.17 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.
* Matt Luff -- It was quite the weekend for the 28-year-old, who has 38 points (14 goals, 24 assists) in 39 games and had had multiple stints with Blues this season, with two assists on Friday and an empty-net goal and two assists on Saturday.
Luff, who was a plus-5 in the two games, now has a 10-game shots on goal streak with a total of 28, including seven this past weekend (five on Saturday).
* Aleksanteri Kaskimaki -- The third-round pick in 2022 had a empty-net goal and an assist on Friday before adding an assist on Saturday to give him 11 goals and 12 assists in 40 games this season.
* Otto Stenberg -- The 2023 first-round pick (No. 25) scored a shorthanded goal on Saturday to give him a goal and three assists in seven games since returning to play during the Winter Olympic games:
* Thomas Bordeleau -- The second-round pick in 2020 by the San Jose Sharks made his Springfield debut on Feb. 6 against Rochester after the Blues acquired the forward from the New Jersey Devils in the trade that send Nick Bjugstad to the Devils, but Bordeleau picked up his first point on Friday before scoring his first goal and adding an assist on Saturday:
* Zach Dean -- The first-round pick (No. 30) in 2021 by the Vegas Golden Knights had his first multi-point game of the season Saturday with a goal and an assist since returning from the NHLPA's player assistance program:
* Juraj Pekarcik -- With two assists on Friday and another on Saturday, the 2023 third-round pick has his second three-game point streak (four assists) to give him 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in 46 games.
Pekarcik does, however, have just one goal his past 27 games.
* Michael Buchinger -- The third-round pick in 2022, a defenseman, scored his fifth goal of the season Saturday, his second goal in five games:
* Korotky shines -- Matvei Korotky, a 2024 seventh-round pick, carried momentum of the KHL All-Star weekend into his season with SKA St. Petersburg with four points in two games, including goals in back-to-back games.
The forward tied the game 1-1 with a goal (at the 4:20ish mark) and had two assists last Tuesday in a 5-1 win over Nefekhimik in 14:20 of ice time:
He then opened the scoring with this nifty penalty shot goal (at the 7:25 mark, how good will this look in shootouts here in the NHL) on Thursday in a 5-0 win against Barys Astana, also winning eight of 15 face-offs in 19:56 of ice time:
After going six straight games without a point, the 20-year-old now has a three-game point streak (two goals, three assists) and seven shots on goal.
* Harenstam keeps shutting the the door -- Love Harenstam, a sixth-round pick in 2025, isn't allowing a gold medal showing at the 2026 World Junior Championship go to his head.
For the third time in his past four starts, the 19-year-old allowed just one goal when he stopped 23 shots for Sodertalje of HockeyAllsvenskan in a 2-1 overtime win over Kalmar.
It's the 11th appearance this season Harenstam has allowed one goal or fewer this season and is among the league leaders in GAA (1.85) and save percentage (.919) despite a 12-14-0 record.
* Fyodorov finally finds the net -- Mikhail Fyodorov, a 2025 fifth-round pick, scored the fourth goal on Tuesday for Metallurg of the KHL in a 4-1 win over Avtomobilist to end an 11-game goalless drought, a power-play goal from the slot (6:25 mark):
* Carbonneau's point streak continues, then finally ends -- Justin Carbonneau (first round, 2025, No. 19) would have a goal and an assist on Friday for Blainville-Boisebriand of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League in a 6-0 win over Val-d'Or to extend his point streak to nine games (10 goals, six assists):
It came to an end when the 19-year-old was held off the scoresheet for the first time since Jan. 8 in a 5-0 loss to Rouyn-Noranda on Saturday.
Nevertheless, Carbonneau continues to lead the league with 42 goals and has 65 points in 47 games and is a plus-19 on the season.
* Adam Jiricek goal drought continues -- The 2024 first-round pick (No. 16) has not scored in 13 straight games, but the defenseman did pick up an assist in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League, a 5-1 win over Erie and 4-2 win over Guelph.
Jiricek has not scored since Jan. 11 but still is more than a point per game player at 43 points (13 goals, 30 assists) in 41 games.
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