Recap: Rangers pick up critical point in OT defeat to Flint
Kitchener, Ont. – The Kitchener Rangers had a 5-2 lead with three minutes remaining in the game but Flint was able to power back to earn a 6-5 overtime victory in front of 7,089 fans at The Aud Friday night. The Rangers had five different goal scorers and Marco Costantini made 46 saves on 52 shots.
At 11:02 of the opening frame, Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) stepped in over the blueline and fired a shot from the top of the left circle beating Nathan Day into the bottom right corner. It was Arcuri’s48th of the season.
Flint had majority of the shots in the first period as they outshot the Rangers 16-9, but the steady play of Marco Costantini saw Kitchener leading 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
Flint took just 42 second in the second period to find their equalizer in the game. Amadeus Lombardi (Detroit Red Wings) deflected a shot from the high slot over the glove of Costantini. Kitchener responded at 11:12 through Adrian Misaljevic to regain their one-goal lead. A huge save by Marco Costantini at the Kitchener end of the ice sprung the Rangers down to the Flint zone for Misaljevic to fire a shot over the right shoulder of Nathan Day.
Kitchener led 2-1 through 20 minutes of play and shots favoured the Firebirds 34-23.
Flint tied the game at 4:36 on the power-play to make it a 2-2 game. Riley Piercey with a backdoor tap-in for his 21st of the season. From there, Kitchener scored three unanswered to take a 5-2 lead. First, Carson Rehkopf with his 30th goal of the season had his shot beat the screen of the defender in front of the net. Then, Cameron Mercer set himself up in the slot and fired a one-timer far side on a pass from behind the net. Their fifth goal came from Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) on a sweet solo effort to get away from the Flint defender, spin and fire a shot short side into the top right corner.
However, with 2:53 on the clock, Flint found three unanswered goals of their own to tie the game at 5-5. Amadeus Lombardi at 17:07, Ethan Hay at 19:01, and Riley Piercey with 17 seconds left on the clock.
After 60 minutes of play, the score was tied 5-5 and shots favoured Flint 51-38.
In the overtime period, Flint had the only shot and made it count to complete the comeback. Amadeus Lombardi capped a five-point night by getting around the Ranger defender and setting up Gavin Hayes (Chicago Blackhawks) backdoor for the tap-in.
Flint came away with a 6-5 victory and the shots ended 52-38 for Flint. Kitchener finished the game 0-for-1 on the power-play and 3-for-4 on the penalty kill. Marco Costantini earned the game’s second star with 46 saves.
Next Up:
The Rangers travel to London to close out the 68-game regular season with a battle against their number-one rival in the London Knights. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. Sunday night at the Budweiser Gardens and tickets can be purchased online here.
Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton / Kitchener Rangers
For inquiries, contact:
Dominic Hennig
Senior Director, Broadcasting, Communications & Hockey Operations
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
519-497-9342
[email protected]
