Preview: Rangers wrap-up regular season in London Sunday
London, Ont. – The Kitchener Rangers, who have a 9-2-2-0 record in their last 13 games, wrap-up the regular season Sunday evening. Puck drop against the London Knights is set for 6 p.m. in an expected sold out event at the Budweiser Gardens (capacity 9,036).
Notable Links:
- TV: Rogers TV (Brantford, Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, London, St. Thomas, Stratford, Strathroy-Caradoc, Tillsonburg, Waterloo, and Woodstock)
- TV: Super Sports Pack, cable 470 (Ontario)
- Video Stream: OHLLive.com | CHL App
- Radio: CityNews 570 AM CKGL
- Live Stats
- Live Tweets
Head-to-Head:
Kitchener has earned at least a point in two of the five meetings between these two clubs this season, having a 1-3-1-0 record. Kitchener earned a win against London on the road by a score of 5-2 on Jan. 22. The Rangers lost the last game in London 5-4 on Feb. 8, but have gone 12-4-4-0 in OHL games since making a coaching change. Kitchener has earned points in five-straight games, and have a 9-2-2-0 record in their last 13 games.
Over the past five seasons Kitchener is 6-10-0-0 in London and 10-22-1-0 overall against the Knights.
Most recently, Kitchener was able to grab a crucial point in an overtime loss to Flint on Friday night losing by a score of 6-5. Heading into tonight’s game, Kitchener sits in the seventh seed in the Western Conference with 72 points. London were visitors in Windsor Saturday night and doubled up the Spitfires winning 6-3. London is 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games, with Sunday also being their final regular season game. The Knights have locked up the second seed in the Western Conference as winners of the Midwest Division no matter their result today.
Scouting the Rangers:
Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) and Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) are joint atop the Rangers roster with 90 points each on the season. Arcuri scored his 48th goal of the season Friday night to go with 42 assists. He has the fourth most goals in the OHL and third most power-play goals. Pinelli was kept off the scoresheet Friday but is up to 41 goals and 49 assists on the season.
Four Rangers own active point streaks heading into Sunday’s contest. Carson Rehkopf (5GP 4G 3A 7pts), Matthew Sop (4GP 2G 2A 4pts), Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) 4GP 4A 4pts, Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) 3GP 2G 1A 3pts and Francesco Arcuri (3GP 2G 3A 5pts).
Marco Costantini has the sixth-best save percentage this season at .900 and a 3.23 GAA. Costantini is 24-17-5-0 in 47 games for Kitchener. Marcus Vandenberg just recorded his first-career OHL shutout, blanking the Kingston Frontenacs 6-0 in his last start and is 9-8-1-0 in 22 appearances for the Rangers.
Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars), Tomáš Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings), Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) are six Kitchener skaters that are both drafted, and signed, by their NHL clubs respectively.
Scouting the Knights:
Sean McGurn is the only Knight coming into the final game of the season with an active point-streak. McGurn has eight points (3G 5A) over a four-game span. He also has the most point on the Knights roster this season with 83 points (27G 56A) in 66 games.
Logan Mailloux (Montréal Canadiens) leads the Knights blueline in points this season with 52 points (24G 28A) in 58 games. Mailloux’s 24 goals is tied for the most in the OHL this season by a defenceman.
Easton Cowan and Oliver Bonk both rank inside the top-10 in rookie scoring this season. Cowan is third with 50 points (19G 31A) in 67 games and Bonk is eighth with 40 points (10G 30A) in 66 games as a defenceman.
Brett Brochu and Zach Bowen have split time between-the-pipes for the Knights. Brochu has seen majority of the time in goal with a 2.86 GAA and a .901 SAV% in 46 games. His 2.86 GAA is fourth best in the OHL. Bowen has a 3.10 GAA and a .899 SAV% in 26 games.
Jackson Edward (BOS), Isaiah George (NYI), Logan Mailloux (MTL), Max McCue (SJ), Landon Sim (STL), and Ryan Winterton (SEA) are the six London skaters that are drafted by their NHL clubs respectively.
Broadcast Coverage:
Sunday night’s contest will be televised live in Brantford, Cambridge, Guelph, Kitchener, London, St. Thomas, Stratford, Strathroy-Caradoc, Tillsonburg, Waterloo, and Woodstock on Rogers TV. In addition, the contest can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pack on channel 470 for cable subscribers.
The game will be streamed live online in a web browser at OHLLive.com, and on the CHL App for mobile devices including smart TV’s such as Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire.
Additionally, fans can listen to the game on the radio on CityNews 570 AM CKGL. Mike Farwell (play-by-play) and Chris Pope (colour commentary) will call the game on the radio. Fans can tune in to the radio pregame show 30 minutes prior to puck drop. For more information on Kitchener Rangers broadcast coverage, click here.
Next Up:
Kitchener awaits to see who their playoff opponent will be and where they will be headed for Game 1 of the OHL playoffs opening round. The Rangers will either face the London Knights or the Windsor Spitfires in the opening round of the playoffs.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers
For inquiries, contact:
Dominic Hennig
Senior Director, Broadcasting, Communications & Hockey Operations
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
519-497-9342
[email protected]
