WIth the Thanksgiving holiday weekend underway, just six New York Rangers prospects were in action on Friday night. Still only two of the prospects recorded any offense on this evening.
Co-Star Malcom Spence Michigan (NCAA)
Malcom Spence had a 1-1-2 night to help his top-ranked Michigan Wolverines earn a 5-1 non-conference win over Harvard. Spence who was the Rangers top pick (2nd rd. #43) in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft has been making the adjustment from the OHL to the NCAA brands of hockey and it hasn’t always been easy.
Last season with Erie of the OHL, Spence was 32-41-73 in 65 games, after tonight’s game Spence is 6-5-11 in 17 games. Did Spence make the right move jumping from the OHL to the NCAAs; still too early to tell.
Against Harvard, Spence’s first point was the primary assist on linemate Cole McKinney’s power play goal in the second period. Think you will like this play as Spence makes a really nice play here on a tic=tac-toe pass to McKinney.
Spence was lined up to the left of the Harvard goal where he received a pass from Jayden Perron and he settled the puck down and fed McKinney for the goal.
McKinney from Spence and Park and it’s 3-0 Michigan! pic.twitter.com/WMiSZTbysc
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) November 29, 2025
The goal put Michigan up 3-0 on what was the first power play goal that Harvard had given up all season. In the third period with his team already up 4-1, Spence put the finishing touches on the win with an even strength goal.
On a delayed penalty, Spence had a rebound come right to him off the right side of the goal line and he fired it right in the net for his sixth goal of the season.
Spencer draws a penalty and buries one! pic.twitter.com/YzPycabsZm
— Michigan Hockey (@umichhockey) November 29, 2025
By the numbers, Spence was 1-1-2 on four shots with a +1 with a slashing minor for the night. Michigan is the current number one team in the NCAA with an overall record of 14-3 (5-2 Big Ten) as they won their third straight game.
The same two team play on Saturday night and if you have ESPN+ you can watch the game live starting at 7 PM EDT/4 PM PDT.
Co-Star Artem Gonchar Sudbury (OHL)
First Star of the Game Artem Gonchar saw his Sudbury Wolves get the better of Evan Passmore‘s Barrie Colts 6-3 in OHL play. Gonchar who had a rough start to his time in the OHL has been playing quite well over the last couple of weeks.
Gonchar had a career best three assist/points night for the Wolves to earn His Wolves coach Scott Barney had this to say about his play in the postgame press scrum:
“I think he has been our most improved defenseman since day one. He’s reading, he’s learning the language, (adjusting to) different culture. He is a smart hockey player (who) is going great (in the) future.”
Gonchar got the Wolves going when he found Kieron Walton coming down the left side of the offensive zone after drawing a defenseman and the goalie to him, he hit Walton with a pass and Walton had a wide open net to score into.
CLAYTS GIVE US ANOTHER TWO GOAL LEAD!!
3-1 pic.twitter.com/2d4bcgRbW5
— Sudbury Wolves (@Sudbury_Wolves) November 29, 2025
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The even strength goal at 4:49 of the first period gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead that they never gave up. Gonchar’s second assist was also a primary one as teammate Blake Clayton defelected a Gonchar point shot past the Barrie goalie to make it 3-1 for the Wolves at 15:42 of the second period.
In the third period, Gonchar got his third assist when he was credited with a secondary assist on teammate Jan Chovan’s power play goal which at the time made it a 5-2 game. Gonchar finished his career night 0-3-3 on two shots with a +2 and a minor penalty for high sticking.
Evan Passmore of Barrie was scoreless with no shots with a -1 and a minor penalty for roughing. Gonchar after struggling to find his footing in the OHL is now 5-9-14 thanks in part to a four game scoring streak (1-6-7).
Rest of the Prospects
E. J. Emery was scoreless on one shot as his sixth-ranked North Dakota Fighting Hawks earned a 5-3 non-conference win over Bemidji State. Emery was credited with one shot and was a +1.
Sean Barnhill was scoreless as his third-ranked Michigan State Spartans earned a 4-1 non-conference win over Colgate. Barnhill did not record a shot but was called for a holding minor.
Drew Fortescue did not score as his 15th-ranked Boston College Eagles earned a 5-3 non-conference win in round one of their “Holy War” series with Notre Dame. Fortescue was credited with two shots and was a -1 for the game.
Did Not Play
Rasmus Larsson was not in the Robert Morris lineup in their game against Mercyhurst. Not sure if it was injury related or a healthy scratch.
