Final: Rangers 6, Storm 1

Guelph, ON : The Rangers (16-10-2-2) extended their winning streak to nine games in a route of the Western Conference-leading Storm (19-7-1-3), 6-1.

Greg Meireles (9) had a dominant performance with three goals, one of which was shorthanded on a breakaway.

Riley Damiani (12), Jonathan Yantsis (19), and Declan McDonnell (7) also picked up goals.

Jacob Ingham saved 35 in the win.

 

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Danny Zhilkin took an interference penalty at 2:04 to give the Rangers their first powerplay early in the game.

At 2:29, the Rangers capitalized on their man-advantage when Damiani (12) went top corner on Owen Bennett to make it 1-0.

Greg Meireles and Axel Bergkvist both picked up assists on the opening goal.

Shots after the opening 20 minutes of play were tied at 11 apiece.

Bergkvist took a tripping penalty deep in the Rangers defensive zone that gave the Storm their second powerplay of the night at 5:20.

On the ensuing powerplay, Greg Meireles (8) found himself on a breakaway across centre ice. The Rangers co-captain went forehand to backhand and roofed one over the Storm goaltender to make it 2-0 at 6:21.

At 8:41, Yantsis (19) came off the bench, picked up the puck and sniped one past Bennett to extend the Rangers lead to 3-0.

Guelph got on the scorecard at 9:09 when Pavel Gogolev snuck one past Jacob Ingham from the side of the net to make it 3-1.

The Rangers extended their lead at 11:04 while on the powerplay. Axel Bergkvist and Liam Hawel teamed up with Meireles (8) who netted his second of the game to make it 4-1.

After two periods, the Rangers led in shots 26-23.

On their third powerplay of the night, Kitchener extended their lead when a puck squeaked through the pads of Tanner Wickware and was cleaned up by Declan McDonnell (7) to make it 5-1.

At 15:31 Meireles complete his bid for a hat trick when he jumped on a rebound and slid it into the back of the net to make it 6-1.

Final shots on goal were 46-38 in favour of the Rangers.

After a mid-week game in Owen Sound, the Rangers return home on Friday, December 20th for a match-up against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7:30 pm.

Tickets are available for all regular-season home games! Purchase yours in-person at The Aud or Centre in the Square Box Office, by phone (519) 578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, or online.

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