Game Recap: Kitchener takes down Windsor 11-2 at Home
Kitchener, ON – Adrian Misaljevic, Carson Rehkopf, and Mitchell Martin all scored twice in an 11-2 win over Windsor. Misaljevic and Rehkopf are now tied in first for OHL goals, and Misaljevic currently leads the OHL in points.
Misaljevic took no time in getting The Aud going in today’s Sunday afternoon contest. He scored just 23 seconds into the game on a pass from Rehkopf, giving him his team-leading sixth goal of the year. Heading into the game he was two points behind the league leader in OHL scoring. Trent Swick was awarded with a secondary assist on the early goal.
Jack Greenwell responded, scoring his first career OHL goal and point. Greenwell was launched onto a breakaway where he would be stopped by Tristan Malboeuf. He swung at the rebound and flipped it in to tie the game at one. Carson Woodall and Jacob Maillet were rewarded with assists on the goal scored 4:58 into the first.
Brzustewicz scored for the fourth straight game to put the Blueshirts up 2-1. Brzustewicz took a slapshot from the point which bounced off both posts before hitting the netting. Matthew Sop made the pass that was one timed by Brzustewicz and Matthew Andonovski registered the secondary assist.
Antonino Pugliese made the game 3-1 Rangers, as he scored with 5:36 remaining in the first period. Pugliese capitalized on an offensive zone turnover and found himself one-on-one with goaltender Joey Costanzo. He shot the puck low and beat Costanzo unassisted. The first period ended 3-1 and Kitchener led the shots 16-7.
Kitchener applied pressure for much of the second period with many two-on-one opportunities, however, they did not find the back of the net until 6:36 into the frame. Martin passed the puck cross-ice to Sop who one-timed the puck by a sprawling Costanzo to make it 4-1. Brzustewicz recorded his first of two assists on the night on the goal. This marks back-to-back games for Brzustewicz recording a goal and two assists. He now leads the league defencemen in points and is third in goals scored.
Simon Motew scored his first goal of the year to put the Blueshirts up 5-1 with 9:47 remaining in the second period. Motew received the puck at the top of the zone on a zone entry from Luke Ellinas and went in to score the fourth unanswered goal of the Rangers to add to the lead.
With 4:15 remaining in the second period, Noah Morneau scored his first goal of the year to bring the game back within three. Anthony Cristoforo shot the puck on net and Morneau found the rebound in tight to bury it behind Malboeuf.
Rehkopf took the puck into the Spitfire zone with less than a minute left and made a nice deke and backhand pass to Martin who extended the lead back to four, 6-2. Martin took three shots on net in the attempt and finally scored with 46 seconds left in the period. The final shots after 40 minutes of play were 29-17 in favour of Kitchener. At the end of the period, there was a scrum at center ice which sent Trent Swick and Rodwin Dionicio to the box. Swick joined Brzustewicz in the box and the Rangers started the third period short-handed five on four.
Kitchener began the third period exactly as they started the first period with a first-minute goal. Martin scored his second goal of the game and recorded his third point on the shorthanded effort. Sop sent a saucer pass for his third point of the game, which Martin had no trouble burying to make the score 7-2.
The Rangers killed the rest of the penalty and scored their second goal of the period just 3:33 into the final frame. Tanner Lam stripped the Spitfires defender of the puck and passed it to Misaljevic who found Rehkopf to bury his sixth of the season. Following Lam’s takeaway, the Blueshirts had three forwards against Windsor’s Costanzo.
Costanzo was pulled from the game following this goal, he played 43:33 of the game allowing eight goals on 31 shots. Ian Michelone came in as relief in the final 16:27.
It was Kyle Morey’s turn to score as he put the puck five-hole on a one-on-one effort with Michelone to make the score 9-2 with 11 minutes remaining in the game. Ellinas sent a backhand pass to Morey and the secondary assist came from Andonovski.
Following a scrum both teams were assessed roughing penalties, the play went on as four-on-four for two minutes. Kitchener continued to dominate hitting the crossbar before Misaljevic scored his second of the game. Michelone made the original save, however, the puck sat behind him where Misaljevic tapped it in. The assists were awarded to Cameron Reid and Motew. Following this goal, the score was 10-2 Kitchener with 8:51 remaining. This goal makes Misaljevic the league leader in scoring and is tied with Denver Barkey of London in goals scored.
The game became chippy with 10-minute misconducts handed out to Martin and Dionicio as well as a five-minute major for head checking and a ten-minute game misconduct to Jack Nesbitt. This led to a four-minute Rangers powerplay with 8:21 remaining. Kitchener did not score on this powerplay.
Rehkopf tied Misaljevic for the league leader in goals as he scored with 1:21 remaining to make it 11-2 Kitchener. Rehkopf’s second goal of the game came off a faceoff win where he passed the puck to Reid who gave it right back for a one-timer. Misaljevic and Rehkopf now both have seven goals this season. This would be the final goal of the game; the final shots were 41-23 in favour of the Rangers.
Michelone finished the game making seven of ten saves, and Tristan Malboeuf made 21 of 23 saves required of him. The Rangers went 0/2 on the powerplay and 2/2 on the penalty kill. The third star of the game was Rehkopf, the second star of the game was Misaljevic, and the first star of the game was Hunter Brzustewicz.
Up Next: Kitchener will be back in action Wednesday at the Meridian Center in Niagara for a 7 pm mid-week contest. The Rangers return home Friday, October 20th for a rematch vs. Owen Sound. Tickets can be found at The Aud 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]
