Game Recap: Kitchener extends win streak to four
Kitchener, ON – Kitchener entered tonight’s game on a three-game win streak with 26 goals for and six against. They extended that streak to four in a 5-3 win over Owen Sound. Hunter Brzustewicz, Carson Rehkopf, and Matthew Sop all recorded multi-point nights in the win.
The first period was highlighted by a play with 7:21 remaining in the first period. Brzustewicz, who entered the game leading the league in assists and tied for second in points took the puck down the offensive zone wall and shot the puck top shelf on the blocker side to erupt The Aud and put the Rangers up 1-0. This was his fifth goal in six games and extended his point streak to eight, where he’s put up 17 points with five goals and 12 assists. Adrian Misaljevic extended his point streak on the goal as well with an assist. His streak is now five games where he has put up six goals and three assists for nine points. Trent Swick was awarded with a secondary assist on the goal as well for his fifth point of the year.
That was the only goal of the period as the final shots were 7-5. Kitchener has now scored first in all but two games this season.
The action got going quickly in the second period as Cameron Mercer scored his first goal of the year just three minutes in. Mercer demonstrated a wicked release on a two-on-two with Antonino Pugliese who sent Mercer a backhanded pass that he had no trouble burying.
Tristan Malboeuf was tested in net throughout this period, highlighted with an incredible save midway through the frame. Three Owen Sound players flew into the zone and caught the Rangers off guard. Cedrick Guindon went on a breakaway with two others right behind him. Guindon, who is third in Owen Sound points and a Montreal Canadiens draft pick, made a move and cut to his forehand however Malboeuf fell into the splits to make a sprawling save covering the entire goal line.
Malboeuf continued to shut the door on the Attack as he cut across his crease reading a pass to make another huge save on the penalty kill. This led to Luke Ellinas going in one-on-one with an Owen Sound defender and creating a high-danger short-handed attempt just over 13 minutes into the period.
Colby Barlow finally broke through Malboeuf with 25.6 seconds remaining in the second period as he went on a short-handed breakaway to score. After a Rangers giveaway on the blue line, Barlow received a pass at the top of the zone and broke free, eventually electing for his backhand and beating Malboeuf five-hole; 2-1 Kitchener.
The busy second period included 28 shots between the two teams, 15 for Kitchener and 13 for Owen Sound, there were also 22 penalty minutes given out and a 10-minute game misconduct. The misconduct came on a fight between Simon Motew and Jackson Stewart, 4:48 into the second.
With one second left in the Rangers powerplay they obtained for too many men, Sop cut to the left faceoff circle and put the puck home. Brzustewicz registered the primary assist, which moved him atop the league in points at the same time. Rehkopf also recorded an assist, continuing his point streak to five games.
On a missed shot by Jackson Stewart, the puck bounced out the other side of the net surprising Malboeuf and Landen Hookey put it in the net to bring the game back within one. Hookey found the puck while Malboeuf was on the other side of the net and wrapped it around into an empty net, scoring his third of the year. The goal was scored less than a minute after the Blueshirts goal at 6:18 making score 3-2 Kitchener.
11:42 into the third period, the Rangers took a too many men penalty and they were successful in killing it. Pugliese was a major part of the kill disrupting multiple breakouts, including an offensive takeaway in which he killed 10 additional seconds.
The Rangers later went on the powerplay with 5:21 to go in the third period and had a great opportunity to extend their lead to two. Nico Addy took a holding penalty in the offensive zone to put the Rangers up a man. Rehkopf scored his tenth goal of the year and recorded his fourth straight game with a goal. Brzustewicz and Sop recorded assists on the powerplay marker. These points keep Brzustewicz atop the point leaderboard and Rehkopf alone in second place in the same stat. This goal also puts Rehkopf in first place in goals in the OHL.
Owen Sound once again recovered to keep things interesting and scored just 35 seconds later with 4:15 remaining to bring it back to 4-3. Ethan Burroughs found Deni Goure’s rebound inside the paint for his second goal of the season.
An impressive amount of effort by Mitchell Martin led to Sop’s second goal of the game. Martin took on two defenders and ended up making a pass to a wide-open Sop before being taken down. Sop had no problem putting the puck in the empty net to give the Rangers a 5-3 lead with 1:16 to go in the game.
Kitchener ended the game with a 48-second powerplay. This powerplay allowed them to cruise to a 5-3 win. The Rangers lead shots 33-26 to end the tightly contested game.
Kitchener went 2/6 on the powerplay and 3/3 on the penalty kill. Malboeuf stopped 23 of 26 shots and Carter George made 28 saves on 32 shots. The third star of the game was Brzustewicz with one goal and two assists. The second star of the game was Barlow with one goal, and the first star of the game was Sop with two goals and one assist.
Up Next: Kitchener will be back in action tomorrow afternoon for a 4 pm start in Mississauga before returning to The Aud on Tuesday, October 24th, to take on the Sarnia Sting. Tickets for Tuesday’s game can be found at The Box office sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online here.
Photo credit – Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers
For inquiries, contact:
Lindsay Eastwood
Manager of Communications and Team Services
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
613-793-0168
[email protected]
