With only three games left in the Ontario Hockey League season, Westland's Gavin and Soo Greyhounds' Travis Hayes have a good chance of catching the Saginaw Spirit for first place in the West Division.
The Greyhounds trail the Spirit by five points and must win their remaining three games, hoping Saginaw loses all of its games in the final week of the regular season.
Gavin Hayes, a 6-2, 180-pound right wing, was selected in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks. He is 19 years old and leads the team with 37 goals in 53 games.
Travis Hayes is only 16 years old, but he has 14 goals in 50 games. He is a 5-11, 170-pound right winger who played in 63 games and scored 34 goals for the Detroit Compuware U15 team last year.
The Greyhounds also have Detroit Red Wings draft pick Andrew Gibson, who lives in LaSalle, Ontario. The 6-4, 206-pound defenseman, a 2023 second-round pick, scored 41 points, nearly double his 21 points last season.
No matter what happens in this week's West Division race, the Sault will need to win the OHL title to take on the Spirit in the Memorial Cup in Saginaw from May 24 to June 2.
As host of the Memorial Cup, which features champions from Canada's three hockey leagues (OHL, Western Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League), the Spirit automatically qualifies for the round-robin tournament.
Saginaw acquired 12 draft picks before the trade deadline and now has 10 players with NHL connections, including Montreal Canadiens prospect Owen Beck (33 goals).
The Sault acquired Gavin Hayes from Flint for two players and four draft picks. Hayes and Gibson are two of six NHL draft picks in the Greyhounds' lineup.
Hayes' brothers are also two of 14 Michigan-area players on this year's OHL rosters. Introducing the achievements of local players this year.
Local hockey players in the OHL
Guelph Storm
▶ LW Max Namestnikov (Wolverine Lake)
64 games played, 24 goals, 22 assists, 46 points
▶ D. Thomas Budnick (Petoskey)
59 games played, 3 goals, 16 assists, 19 points
kingston frontenax
▶ D Roman Schmidt (Midland)
45 games played, 6 goals, 23 assists, 29 points
mississauga steelheads
▶ RW Dean Lucas (Calumet)
65 games played, 17 goals, 31 assists, 48 points
saginaw spirit
▶ RW Liam Storch (Rochester Hills)
22 games played, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 points
▶ D PJ Forgione (Novi)
39 games played, 4 goals, 8 assists, 12 points
▶ G Andrew Ok (Shelby Township)
27 wins, 10 draws, 2 losses, average 2.94 points, save percentage .890
Sarnia Sting
▶ C Zach Firak (North Building)
58 games played, 22 goals, 14 assists, 36 points
▶ LW Dennis Lominak (commercial district)
55 games played, 3 goals, 2 assists, 5 points
▶ D Nick Surgisia (Oakland Township)
0 goals/assists, 0 points, 49 assists
sue greyhound
▶ RW Travis Hayes (Westland)
55 games played, 14 goals, 20 assists, 34 points
▶ RW Gavin Hayes (Westland)
53 games played, 37 goals, 39 assists, 76 points
windsor spitfires
▶ C Ryan Abraham (Livonia)
61 games played, 29 goals, 31 assists, 60 points
Tuesday's NHL game
(at) New Jersey 5, Pittsburgh 2: Jake Allen made 36 saves and Timo Meyer and Dawson Mercer each scored two points to lead New Jersey to a 5-2 victory over Pittsburgh.
Alexander Holtz also scored, and Jesper Blatt, Tomas Nosek, Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes each had two assists as New Jersey won for the third time in eight games under interim coach Travis Green. .
Marcus Pettersson and Brian Rust (Pontiac) scored for Pittsburgh. Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry made 33 saves, but the Penguins lost for the ninth time in 12 games and for the 11th time in 13 road games.
Pittsburgh is winless in seven games against New Jersey until February 24, 2022 (0 wins, 6 losses, 1 draw).
(at) Philadelphia 4, Toronto 3: The Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 on Tuesday night, with Owen Tippett scoring a goal and an assist in the first 19 seconds of the game, and Morgan Frost also having a goal and an assist.
Travis Sanheim and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who played without captain Sean Couturier, a healthy scratch for the first time in his 13-year career. Samuel Elson, who has played in two of the last three starts, made 27 saves, including stopping Bobby McCann on a shorthanded breakaway in the second period.
The Flyers lost three of the four players who played in the game, allowing 19 points in three losses.
Trailing by three points at the start of the third period, Toronto tried to come back. William Nylander scored on the power play, and Tyler Bertuzzi and John Tavares added additional goals.
Winnipeg 4, (at) New York Rangers 3: Mark Scheifele scored three goals, Connor Hellebuyck (Commerce Township) made 37 saves, and Winnipeg defeated New York 4-2.
Kyle Connor (Michigan State) also scored for the Jets, who have won three straight and four of their last five games. Winnipeg is 14-5-0 since Feb. 8 and 19-5-4 in Eastern Conference play this season. Hellebuyck improved to 16-4-2 in East games this season and 32-15-3 overall.
Alexander Wennberg and Alexis Lafreniere scored for the Rangers, who suffered their second loss in seven games.
(Location) Boston 6, Ottawa 2: David Pastrnak scored two goals within three minutes of each other in the first period and had a hat trick in the third to lead Boston past the Ottawa Senators.
Pastrnak scored three goals in his 17th regular season game, moving him into seventh place on the Bruins' all-time scoring list with 345 career goals, passing team president Cam Neely.
Justin Brazeau scored two points, Jesper Boqvist had a goal and Kevin Shattenkirk had three assists as the Bruins won their third straight game. Linus Ullmark finished with 30 saves.
Brady Tkachuk and Shane Pinto scored for the Senators, who lost their second straight after winning three straight. Jonas Korpisalo had a tough night, allowing all six goals on 26 shots, as the game was close until the second period but ended in a rout in the third.
Carolina 4, (at) New York Islanders 1: Seth Jarvis scored twice, giving Carolina a three-point lead in the first period and a 4-1 victory over the New York Islanders.
Trade deadline acquisition Jake Guentzel had a three-point night with one goal and two assists for Carolina, Pyotr Kochetkov made 30 saves and the Hurricanes won their fourth straight game, tying a franchise record with their sixth straight road win. Martini Necas also scored and Brady Skjei added two assists.
Kyle Palmieri scored for New York. Ilya Sorokin finished with 31 saves for the Islanders, but the Islanders have lost five straight, losing 20-6 in that span.
playoff tracker
atlantic ocean
▶ Bruins (95)
▶ Panthers (94)
▶ Maple leaves (85)
metropolitan
▶ Rangers (94)
▶ Hurricane (90)
▶ Flyers (76)
Wildcard
▶ Lightning (78)
▶ Capital (75)
(Top 2 wild card teams advance to playoffs)
▶ Red Wings (74)
▶ Islanders (73)
▶ Sabers (71)
▶ Pittsburgh (69)
▶ Devils (68)
Michigan area hockey this week
Tuesday
▶ Red Wings 4, Columbus 3 (OT)
▶ Manitoba 5, Grand Rapids 1
Wednesday
▶ Grand Rapids, Manitoba, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
Thursday
▶ New York Islanders, Red Wings, 7 (BSD/97.1)
Friday
▶ Michigan Technological University, Bermidji State University, 8
▶ 8 Green Bay NTDP U17 players
Saturday
▶ Nashville Red Wings, 5 (BSD/97.1)
▶ Grand Rapids, Rockford, 8 (AHL/106.9/1300)
▶ Michigan State University, 8 (Big 10)
▶ NTDP U17 Team, Madison, 8
