Cowan claims Knights record, Niemelä’s nasty side, goaltenders shining: Leafs Prospect Roundup

Notes from the rest of the prospect pool:

• Topi Niemelä has put together an impressive rookie season for the Marlies, playing big minutes and driving offence from the back end. With an assist in Saturday’s 5-1 win over Laval, he is now up to six goals and 22 assists in 47 games – the fifth most points among U22 AHL defenders. Niemelä’s intelligence and ability to read the game at both ends of the ice have been evident, but the biggest thing for him has been the adjustment to the strength and physicality of the opposing players in the AHL. Standing at 6’0″ and weighing just 179 pounds, there is still room for Niemelä to grow into his frame, but he has always had a bit of an edge to his game, and it was on display in a couple of chippy affairs against the Rocket this weekend. There were net-front scrums, an incident where Niemelä took exception to a shot after the whistle, and this nice open-ice hit:

• After Joe Woll earned an impressive victory over Laval to kick off his conditioning assignment with the Marlies on Friday, Dennis Hildeby was back between the pipes for Saturday’s rematch. Hildeby picked up where Woll left off, stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced on his way to a 5-1 win. After a brief rough patch following his first stint with the Leafs, Hildeby has been rock solid for the Marlies in his last seven appearances, owning a .929 SV% over that span.

• The VHL playoffs got underway this past week, and Artur Akhtyamov continued his stellar play after another impressive regular season. Matching up against Dynamo St. Petersburg, Akhtyamov stopped 53 of the 57 shots he faced in a thrilling double-overtime win in game one and followed that up with a 31-save performance in a 7-1 blowout win for Neftyanik in game two. Akhtyamov was spectacular in the postseason a year ago, posting a .952 SV% through six games, and he is well on his way to another impressive run with a .944 SV% through the first two games of the opening round this year.
• The Lethbridge Hurricanes destroyed the Calgary Hitmen by a score of 9-2 on Sunday evening, and Leafs prospect Noah Chadwick was a big part of Lethbridge’s attack. He opened the scoring just 14 seconds into the game and added another goal to go along with an assist before the night was out. Chadwick is now tied for 10th in scoring among WHL defencemen with 11 goals and 35 assists in 55 games so far this season.

• Nick Abruzzese played a key role in the Marlies securing back-to-back wins over Laval on the weekend, notching an assist on Friday night before tallying the winning goal and another helper on Saturday. Abruzzese had gone five games without a point before that, and getting him back on track will be crucial for the Marlies the rest of the way. Following his three-point weekend, Abruzzese is now fifth in team scoring with nine goals and 26 assists in 49 games.

• It was also a productive weekend for William Villeneuve, who piled up three assists over two games. Villeneuve started slow offensively this season, but he has been on a bit of a heater with 13 points in his last 13 games. Now with two goals and 19 assists in 38 games, he ranks second in scoring among Marlies blueliners behind Niemelä.
• Vyacheslav Peksa is another player who didn’t have the start to the season that he had hoped for, but he has turned things around in a big way, with the exclamation point coming in Saturday’s 4-3 shootout win over Trois-Rivières. Peksa set a new Growlers record, stopping 49 of the 52 shots he faced in regulation and overtime, and he is now sporting a .931 SV% over his last five games.

• Veeti Miettinen added to his career-high with his 14th goal of the season on Saturday, adding an assist in a 3-0 victory over Western Michigan. Despite being held off the scoresheet in Friday’s contest, Miettinen has registered three goals and seven assists in his last 10 games, bringing him to within a point of the team lead in scoring with 26 points in 29 games.