Garrett Pilon Remains Hot, Benton Maass Scores Twice, Aliaksei Protas Ends Scoring Drought: Week 21 Capitals Prospect Report

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Jon Sorensen
Photo: Caroline O’Connor/Hershey Bears/Great Save Productions

Welcome to the week 21 Washington Capitals prospect report. The following includes a summary of game action and news for Capitals prospects that occurred between February 3rd and February 9, 2020. (Reminder: you can always access all of our prospect news and analysis in the top menu under the “Prospects” tab. You can also follow the latest Capitals prospect news on Twitter under the #CapsProspect hashtag.

2019-2020 Top-20 Prospects Mid-Year Rankings

PREVIOUS WEEKLY REPORTS

MONTHLY PROSPECT REPORTS

AHL/HERSHEY BEARS

The Bears opened their week of play with a 3-0 win over the Penguins in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday night. On Saturday night the Bears downed the Springfield Thunderbirds 5-2 at Giant Center. On Sunday the Bears thumped the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 5-2 in Allentown. As a result, the Bears swept their three-game weekend set and took over sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division. The Bears are 31-15-2-3 (67 points) on the season.

Pheonix Copley – stopped all 31 shots he faced Friday night against the Penguins, including several “10 Bell” saves.

Copley got the start on Saturday as well, stopping 22 of 24 in the 5-2 win over the Thunderbirds. For the season, Copley is 16-6-4-2 with a 2.30 GAA and a .912 save percentage. Copley has won 12 of his last 13 starts and remains the Bears number one goaltender.

Vitek Vanecek – stopped 31 of 33 shots faced for a game save percentage of .939% Sunday against the Phantoms in Allentown. For the season, Vanecek is 14-9-1-1 with a 2.41 GAA and a .910 save percentage.

Garrett Pilon – scored his 13th goal of the season Friday night against the Penguins.

Pilon would record a power play goal on Sunday for his 14th tally of the season.

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby – scored his 11th goal of the season Friday night against the Thunderbirds. For the season, Axel has 11 goals and 8 assists in 50 games played.

Alex Alexeyev – scored his third goal of the season in Saturday night’s 5-2 win over the Thunderbirds. For the season, Alexeyev has three goals in three goals and 15 assists in 48 games played.

Alexeyev suffered another injury scare on Friday night against the Penguins. He would leave the ice dazed, but under his own power, and return to the game after missing five minutes of clock time.

Brett Leason – would score his second goal of the season Sunday against the Phantoms. For the season, Leason has two goals and eight assists in 43 games played.

OHL/WHL

Connor McMichael – had a goal and an assist Friday night against Saginaw. For the season, McMichael has 38 goals and 47 assists in 39 games played.

Aliasksei Protas – ended his scoring drought with a pair of goals on Wednesday night against the Tigers in Medicine Hat. The Viper of Vitebsk” would register just one shot in the first 59:53 of the game, but his second shot of the game was a big one as he finally dented the twine with seven seconds remaining in regulation, tying the game 3-3.

Protas wasn’t finished. He would win the ensuing faceoff at the start overtime, force a turnover and score the game winning goal just seven seconds into the extra frame.

Video: The WHL

Eric Florchuk – had two goals and four assists this week. His two goals came Sunday evening against Kamloops. Since being traded from Saskatoon to Vancouver, Florchuk has seven goals and 13 assists in 13 games. For the season, Florchuk has 18 goals and 26 assists in 46 games played.

Second goal:

NCAA

Mitchel Gibson – stopped 22 of 24 shots faced Friday night in Harvard’s 6-2 win over Dartmouth. For the season, Gibson is 8-5-2 with a 2.45 GAA and a .922 save percentage. Gibson is the 14th ranked overall netminder in the NCAA. He has the 14th best save percentage in the NCAA.

Benton Maass – scored two goals Friday night against Vermont. The right-handed defenseman met with the media following the game.

Maass has moved back to the top defensive pair for the Wildcats.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.
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1 Response to Garrett Pilon Remains Hot, Benton Maass Scores Twice, Aliaksei Protas Ends Scoring Drought: Week 21 Capitals Prospect Report

  1. Anonymous says:
    February 10, 2020 at 10:19 am

    The caps need to start playing more consistently ad they head down the stretch towards the playoffs. They seem to be floundering at the moment. Many areas on the ice need improvement to say the least. Especially at the head coaching position.

    Reply

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