After scoring twice against Penn State Friday, 2022 first-round pick ejected from Saturday's game vs. Nittany Lions for contact to head; Dvorsky has goal streak going for Springfield
Jimmy Snuggerud's twig showed signs of life on Friday.
The St. Louis Blues 2022 first-round pick (No. 23 overall) was in on the scoring for the No. 4 Minnesota Golden Gophers in a battle with No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions on Friday, scoring twice in a 3-1 win.
Unfortunately on Saturday, the 20-year-old found himself in a situation where he was called for a five-minute major for contact to the head on Penn State's Nicholas DeGraves and a game misconduct at 19:46 of the first period.
The early exit derailed Snuggerud's point streak at five games (three goals, five assists) and it seemed like he has been well on his way to piling on bigger and better numbers moving forward.
On Friday, Snuggerud grabbed a loose puck and in a quick motion, whipped it in 1:36 into the second period to tie the game 1-1.
And he would get to the net front and redirect in the eventual game-winner with 1:38 remaining in the second.
The Golden Gophers (7-1) return to action on Friday when they play at Wisconsin, likely without Snuggerud, who could return as early as Saturday against the Badgers in hopes of continuing his scoring binge.
* Dalibor Dvorsky -- The No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, after scoring in back-to-back games this weekend for Springfield of the American Hockey League, the center now has goals in three straight games.
Dvorsky scored this beauty from a sharp angle on the backhand in the Thunderbirds' 4-1 loss against Bridgeport:
The 19-year-old then added this clapper from the high slot on Saturday in a 5-2 loss against Lehigh Valley, a game in which he had an AHL career-high six shots:
The goals this weekend came on the heels of scoring Oct. 27 in a 5-2 Springfield victory at Hartford.
Dvorsky now has seven points (five goals, two assists) in 10 games and leads the 3-7-0 Thunderbirds in goals and points.
* Juraj Pekarcik -- The 2023 third-round pick had his seven-game point streak end when he was left off the scoresheet Sunday for Moncton in a 5-1 win against Halifax in QMJHL action, but the forward had a goal and an assist in the previous two games to give him 10 points (three goals, seven assists) during the 19-year-old's point streak.
Pekarcik now has 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) and is a plus-5 in 15 games this season for the Wildcats.
* Tomas Mrsic -- The fourth-round pick in 2024 added a goal and three assists this past week to give the 18-year-old at least a point in nine of 12 games (seven goals, nine assists) for Prince Albert of the Western Hockey League.
Mrsic's seven goals is tied for tops on the Raiders, and his 16 points is third.
* Adam Jecho -- The third round pick in 2024 continues to sizzle; the center has a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists) and now has at least a point in eight of nine games (three goals, nine assists) for Edmonton of the WHL.
The center now has 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) in 13 games for the Oil Kings.
* Adam Jiricek update -- The Blues' top pick in the 2024 draft (No. 16 overall) made his season debut with Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League and played on the top defensive pairing for the Bulldogs, who dropped all three games played this weekend, Friday against Erie (4-3), Saturday against Sudbury (3-1) and Sunday against Oshawa (5-2).
It's Jiricek's first game action since the 2024 World Junior Championships when he sustained a knee injury for Czechia against Slovakia when Pekarcik, playing for Slovakia, fell on the defenseman. He did not factor in any of the scoring for the Bulldogs over the weekend but is a plus-1 with two shots on goal.
