Yogan Scores Twice, McIlrath Fights For Whale Against Sound Tigers

There will certainly be plenty of discussion over the Rangers and their tremendous Saturday in their own game and the Tampa Bay-Carolina game that sent them to the playoffs, but first take a look at what a few future Rangers did for the Connecticut Whale down in the AHL.  The Whale, unlike the Rangers, locked up a playoff birth before the final game of the regular season so they went with a young lineup against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Saturday.  The result was that the fans got to get a glimpse of some potential future Rangers.  On the night Andrew Yogan (2010 fourth round pick) would score twice in his professional debut and Dylan McIlrath (2010 first round pick) would drop the gloves. 

During the second period is when Yogan would get his night started as just 1:54 into the period Yogan would score after a very good cycling shift with Kelly Tessier and Evgeny Grachev.  The trio worked the puck along the wall very well and finally Tessier would find Yogan at the side of the net where he beat Nathan Lawson high to the short side.  Yogan would finish off his excellent pro debut with his second goal when he redirected Bickel’s point shot into the net during the third period from another high traffic area in front.

Yogan had a shoulder injury that kept him out of action until mid-March and only allowed him to play 10 games this season in which he had three goals and one assist.  The talent has never been questioned with Yogan but some other questions have been raised so next season will be very interesting for him to see if he can stay healthy and how he progresses in his play.

The McIlrath bout against Alex O’Neil would come midway through the second and was a high action affair that saw Dylan both land and take some punches, but stand in there just the same.

Video of McIlrath Fight:

Full highlights of the game…