Game Recap: Kitchener falls to Owen Sound for first loss of the season
Kitchener, ON – The Rangers put up 36 shots in a 5-2 loss against Owen Sound tonight. Goaltender Carter George stood up the Rangers and Colby Barlow recorded two goals in his first game of the season. Matthew Sop and Hunter Brzustewicz both recorded their first goals of the season in the loss.
Jake Crawford got the goals rolling early for Owen Sound as he buried a rebound for his first goal of the season. Jackson Stewart drove the net and took a shot, despite making the original save, Jackson Parsons was unable to save the rebound which was put in by Crawford. The goal was scored 3:26 into the game and the secondary assist was awarded to Ethan Burroughs.
Kitchener had a high-danger shorthanded opportunity as Matthew Sop and Cameron Mercer went in on a two-on-one chance with just over seven and a half minutes remaining in the first period. However, Owen Sound quickly went down the other way with a chance just over ten seconds later but Jackson Parsons made a very difficult cross-crease save on Cedrick Guindon.
The Attack continued to press the Rangers with 4:11 remaining in the frame Parsons stood the test of Deni Goure on another sprawling save. Kitchener took two penalties a minute a part giving the Attack a minute long 5 on 3 powerplay. 40 seconds into the 5-on-3 Barlow scored his first goal of the year. Barlow put the puck bar down on a snapshot from the right faceoff circle 16:27 into the frame; with assists to Goure and Sam Sedley.
After 20 minutes of play the score was 2-0, Owen Sound, George made all nine saves required of him and Parsons saved ten of the twelve shots sent his way.
Owen Sound went up by three goals just one minute into the second period. A turnover at Kitchener’s blueline sent Goure onto a breakaway where he scored.
Kitchener battled back and finally put one past George. Sop scored his first goal of the season to make the game 3-1 for the Attack. Sop received the puck from Carson Campbell inside the left circle where he shot it top shelf. The secondary assist was given to Tomas Hamara. These points for Campbell and Hamara are their first points of the season and Campbell’s first OHL career point.
Sop’s first goal of the 2023-24 season came after many chances including two shorthanded breakaways against Sarnia in their last game. Sop was second to teammate Carson Rehkopf in OHL preseason scoring. He put up 10 points with four goals and six assists in six games in the preseason.
The second period would end 3-1 Attack however, the Rangers put up fourteen shots in comparison to Owen Sound’s five throughout the period, putting Kitchener ahead 23-17 on the shot clock.
The Blueshirts continued to fire away on Owen Sound outshooting them seven to three 11 minutes into the third period, but it was not enough as Owen Sound went up four to one with 8:43 left in the game. The Attack’s fourth shot of the period came on a cross-crease pass from Guindon which Servac Petrovsky put behind Parsons.
Kitchener answered on their next shot from Brzustewicz. He scored his first goal of the season. Brzustewicz cut down from the blueline towards the right faceoff circle and scored stick side on George. The goal was unassisted at 12:15 into the third period and brought the Rangers within two goals.
Barlow scored his second goal of the game and season into an empty net to put the Rangers out of reach with 58 seconds left. Taos Jordan got the assist for his first point of the season.
Parsons made 18 of 22 saves and George stopped 34 of 36 shots. Kitchener went 0/1 on the powerplay and 2/3 on the penalty kill. Before giving up the powerplay goal tonight to Owen Sound, they had killed 15 straight penalties in their first four games.
The third star of the game was awarded to Sop who recorded his first goal of the season. George was given the second star of the game after recording his second win of the season. The first star of the game went to Goure who scored the game-winning goal and tallied an assist.
Up Next: Kitchener will travel to Saginaw to take on the Spirit tomorrow. This will be the second matchup between the two teams in the young season. Kitchener is back home Friday, October 13th to take on the Barrie Colts, tickets can be found at the box office sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online here.
