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Capitals College Credits: Ryan Leonard Continues Scorching Scoring Pace, Brent Johnson Scores Again, David Gucciardi Heats Up

By Jon Sorensen·


With the first half of the 2023-24 college hockey season almost coming to a close, teams got a break from conference action. Some matchups were closer than others, but this weekend was by far the best for all six of the Washington Capitals college hockey prospects. All five skaters registered at least one point and goaltender Chase Clark led Sacred Heart to its fourth straight win. 

 Here is a breakdown on how each of the prospects did for week eight of the college hockey season.

Ryan Leonard, RW, 2023 1st RD, No. 1 Boston College Eagles (11-2-1, 4-1-1)

 Ryan Leonard simply cannot be stopped.

It is remarkable how far he has come. From going goalless in his first four games of his career, to eight goals in his last eight games; Leonard has lived up to the hype. 

Meanwhile, the all-freshmen line, of Will Smith and Gabe Perreault, has been just as dominant as they were when the trio was with the US National Team. 

In the contest against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Leonard scored 3:44 into the contest off of some pretty passing from the U.S. line. This goal showcased how heavy his shot is. He hasn’t scored a lot of these goals, as the majority of them have come from in front of the net.

Boston College was dominant right from the drop of the puck and with about five minutes to play in the opening frame, the eighth overall pick struck once again in similar fashion.

The Eagles would go on to win 6-1.

 After a day off, the Eagles traveled to Cambridge to face off against the Harvard Crimson. Sunday’s matchup was a much tighter contest, but Leonard would continue to make his impact felt, scoring the game’s first tally on a tip-in try.

However, just 28 seconds after the Leonard tally, the Crimson tied the game at one. Leonard turned the puck over in his own zone and Harvard capitalized. He failed to get the puck out of the zone.

But the Amhurst native would bounce back with his second goal of the game to seal the deal for BC. The Eagles would go on to earn a 4-1 victory for their fourth straight win.

Following this weekend, Leonard now has points in 11 straight games. He is now second on the team with nine goals. On Monday, he was named the Hockey East Player of the Week.

The Eagles will resume conference play when they take on the Northeastern Huskies for a home-and-home slate on Dec. 1-2. Boston College is currently first in the PairWise rankings and third in Hockey East with 13 points. 

David Gucciardi, LD, 2022 7th RD, No. 8 Michigan State Spartans (10-4-2, 5-1-2)

Gucciardi was back in the lineup after missing the last six games due to injury. He had a very strong weekend in what was an absolute barn burner of a weekend against the No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers.

In the series-opener, Minnesota blew leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 and Michigan State eventually won the game in a shootout. Gucciardi had the primary assist on Tiernan Shoudy’s tying goal with three minutes to play in regulation.

Michigan State is a team that is never out of games. The Spartans have been one of the most relentless teams in the country and have that “never give up” mentality. As if Game 1 didn’t prove that point enough, Game 2 cemented it.

The series-finale between these two top 10 opponents was one of the most exciting games of the season. With the score tied at one, Gucciardi found himself on a short-handed breakaway and showed off some nifty stickhandeling to give the Spartans a 2-1 lead.

It was his first goal of the season.

Funny enough, fellow Capitals prospect Ryan Chesley answered right back with a goal of his own after Gucciardi’s goal.

Minnesota had a 5-3 lead with about five minutes to go in regulation. However, the scrappy Spartans would not go away, and they tied the game with 18 seconds left in the third period. The Gophers would eventually win the game 6-5 in overtime, but it was good to see Gucciardi have a strong weekend after missing the last three weekends. 

The 2022 seventh-round pick had six shot attempts in the series finale and had three shots on goal. 

Michigan State is currently first in the Big Ten with 19 points. The Spartans will get a bye week this weekend before taking on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Dec. 8-9. 

Chase Clark, G, 2021 6th RD, Sacred Heart Pioneers (7-5-1, 7-2-1)

Clark and the Pioneers continue to turn their season around. They swept the Robert Morris Colonials for their second consecutive Atlantic Hockey sweep. In Game 1, the Pioneers got off to a quick 3-1 lead after 20 minutes of play. There was no scoring in the middle frame, but Clark was already up to 21 saves before the final stanza began.

The Colonials would eventually cut their deficit to one, but it was not enough as Sacred Heart would go onto win 4-2. Clark ended the evening with 25 saves on 27 shots. 

In Game 2, Robert Morris got off to an early 1-0 lead, but the Pioneers stormed back to complete the sweep by a score of 3-1. Clark was once again solid with 21 saves. 

Clark improves to 7-5-0 and is rocking a 2.35 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage. Meanwhile, the sophomore netminder is fourth in the AHA with a 1.89 goals-against average in conference play.

Ryan Chesley, RD, 2022 2nd RD, No. 7 Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-4-3, 3-3-2)

While the Gophers would have liked to come away with six points and get back in the top three of the Big Ten, they only came away with three. However, Chesley had a very solid weekend in Minnesota’s top 10 showdown with the No. 8 Michigan State Spartans.  

Though he did not get on the scoresheet in Game 1, Chesley was a plus-1 and had three shots on goal on six attempts. He also took a minor penalty but there was no harm done. 

Game 2 was a barn burner. Shortly after Gucciardi’s short-handed tally, Chesley responded to tie the game on a beautiful backdoor feed from Brody Lamb. 

Minnesota would have a 5-3 lead late in the third, but the Spartans stormed back to tie the game. But after a back-and-forth extra frame, Jimmy Clark would seal matters to give the Gophers the extra point. Chesley led the team with four shot blocks.

Chesley and the Gophers will travel to Happy Valley to take on the No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions. 

Brent Johnson, RD, 2021 3rd RD, Ohio State Buckeyes (5-5-3, 0-5-1)

The Buckeyes got a much-needed bye week and ended up sweeping the Princeton Tigers. However, these games were not easy. Ohio State almost blew both games. In Game 1, the Buckeyes got off to an early 2-0 lead and the Tigers eventually tied things at two in the second period.

 But then Johnson showed off some slick hands for his fourth goal of the year. He continues to excel in his new role despite typically being a third-pair defenseman.

Princeton would tie things at three, but Ohio State took a 4-3 lead just 50 ticks into the third period, thanks to star sophomore forward Stephen Halliday. Ohio State would tally two empty net goals and would take the series-opener 6-3. Along with his highlight-reel goal, Johnson had five shots on goal and was a plus-2. Meanwhile, he blocked two shots.

In Game 2, the home team got off to another quick start. Johnson had the primary assist on Patrick Guzzo’s goal, 1:51 into the opening frame. He put the puck right on Guzzo’s tape for an easy tap in.

The Buckeyes complete the sweep, winning 4-3, but it came down to the wire. Johnson ended Game 2 with five shot attempts. The junior blueliner is currently fifth on the team with six points (four goals, two assists).

Ohio State has yet to earn a regulation Big Ten victory. It has a tall task ahead this weekend, when it travels to Madison to take on the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers. 

Joaquim Lemay, LD, 2021 4th RD, No. 20 Omaha Mavericks (8-3-1, 2-2-0)

Lemay’s four-game point streak unfortunately snapped in Game 1 against the Augustana Vikings. However, he led the team with six shots on goal on 11 attempts in the series-opener. The Mavericks would take the first contest 2-1 and would head on the road for the series-finale.

Omaha would get out to a quick 2-0 lead and would go up 3-1. Lemay had the secondary assist on Jacob Guevin’s power-play goal in the second period to make it 4-2.

Omaha completed the sweep with a 5-2 win. The sophomore rearguard finished Game 2 with just two shots on goal. Lemay is second on the team with nine points (four goals, five assists), which leads the team among defensemen. Meanwhile, Omaha is currently in sixth place in the NCHC standings. They will look to gain some ground when they take on the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.

Other College Hockey Storylines

  • Alaska Anchorage upsets No. 6 Wisconsin (1-0W, 5-0L)
  • No. 2 North Dakota narrowly sweeps Bemidji State (3-2OTW, 5-0W)
  • No. 13 Michigan wins and ties No. 17 St. Cloud (2-0W, 3-3T)
  • No. 4 Boston University defeats No. 5 Quinnipiac 3-2, but then gets upset by No. 16 Cornell 2-1. 
  • Bentley beats UMass Lowell 4-1, but falls to Merrimack 4-3
  • Michigan Tech sweeps Minnesota State (3-2OTW, 3-2W)
  • Northern Michigan splits with Bowling Green (6-2L, 2-0W)
  • No. 15 UNH splits with No. 19 RIT (5-4L, 4-3OTW)
  • No. 18 Penn State sweeps Lindenwood (9-3W, 7-1W)
  • No. 3 Denver sweeps Yale (5-0W, 9-0W)
  • Air Force loss and tie with Canisius (3-1L, 2-2SOW)
  • Lake Superior splits with St. Thomas (4-2L, 3-1W)
  • No. 9 Providence splits with No. 12 Arizona State (4-3OTL, 2-1W)
  • Union sweeps Stonehill (5-2W, 4-0W)

https://www.uscho.com/rankings/d-i-mens-poll/

 By Jacob Cheris