Rangers advance to Memorial Cup final after win over Sagueneens
The Kitchener Rangers secured a spot in the final of the 2026 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota after a 3-2 win over the Chicoutimi Sagueneens Tuesday night in Kelowna, B.C.
Luca Romano (NYI), Sam O’Reilly (TB) and Jack Pridham (CHI) scored for the Rangers while Christian Kirsch (SJ) stopped 26 shots.
For Chicoutimi, Emile Ricard and Mavrick Lachance had goals as Lucas Beckman (OTT) made 16 saves.
With the victory, the Rangers will head to the Memorial Cup final for a CHL record seventh time where they will look to win their third national title (1982/2003).
“It’s special,” said Dylan Edwards. “Talking to some of the older guys, what a treat this is for our last game in this league to be playing for a Memorial Cup, it’s pretty special. We want to go home with it and and a pretty incredible experience and opportunity for us as a group.”
Jack Pridham can't stop scoring for the @OHLRangers! 🚨
That's goals in all three round-robin games for the #Blackhawks prospect! #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/SBbUx1M97E
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 27, 2026
After a goalless first it was the Rangers who would strike first as off of a Chicoutimi turnover, Romano kept the puck on an odd-man rush and beat Beckman high blocker at 1:38. The lead was doubled 2:19 later through O’Reilly’s second of the event as he buried a rebound after Pridham had initially been stopped.
“I’ve been extremely fortunate to be on the teams I’ve been on,” O’Reilly said. “The teammates I’ve played with and the coaches I’ve had, I’m extremely lucky and something I don’t take for granted.”
The Sagueneens got back into the game through Ricard’s first of the tournament at 8:38 as he completed a lovely passing sequence that also featured Christophe Berthelot and Nathan Lecompte.
But Pridham pushed Kitchener’s lead back to two goals only 21 seconds into the third period as his seeing-eye shot from the blue found its way in for his fourth goal of the tournament.
Lachance cut the deficit to 3-2 with 3:54 left in regulation as he buried Emmanuel Vermette’s pass back door but the Sags couldn’t generate much in the closing moments to force overtime as they conclude the round-robin with a 1-2-0 record.
“It wasn’t pretty tonight but we got the job done,” said Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas.
The round-robin concludes Wednesday when Everett faces Kelowna. A win for the Silvertips will see them advance to Friday’s semi-final where they would face Chicoutimi. For Kelowna, they simply have to win to keep their tournament alive and force a tie-breaker Thursday.
2026 Memorial Cup schedule:
May 22 – Game 1: Kitchener 5-0 Kelowna
May 23 – Game 2: Everett 5-3 Chicoutimi
May 24 – Game 3: Kelowna 2-3 (OT) Chicoutimi
May 25 – Game 4: Everett 2-6 Kitchener
May 26 – Game 5: Chicoutimi 2-3 Kitchener
May 27 – Game 6: Kelowna vs. Everett — 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
May 28 – Tie-breaker (if necessary) — 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
May 29 – Semi-final — 9:00pm ET / 6:00pm PT
May 31 – Final — 7:00pm ET / 4:00pm PT
