Recap: Rangers post 6-1 victory over London before standing room crowd in Kitchener Sunday
Kitchener, Ont. – The Kitchener Rangers posted a commanding 6-1 victory over the London Knights in game three of the second round series Sunday in front of a standing room crowd of 7,356 fans at The Aud. The Blueshirts outshot London 37-31, Kitchener-native Matthew Sop led the way with three points, Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) recorded two goals in his series debut, Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) scored the game-winning goal and Marco Costantini made 30 saves. Game four tickets Tuesday are available and on sale here.
Both teams took two trips to the power-play in the opening period, but neither team could find the icebreaker. With London on the power-play late in the period, Matthew Sop sent Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) in for a breakaway who made a move to his backhand to beat Brett Brochu with 8.7 seconds on the clock. That was Pinelli’s second shorthanded goal of the playoffs and seventh overall on the year. Kitchener earned their first lead of the series and headed into the intermission, up 1-0. Shots favoured the Knights 10-8.
The teams traded goals in another evenly matched middle frame. First, it was Kitchener who doubled their lead on the power-play. At 5:44, Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) setup Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) in the slot for a backdoor one-timer. This power-play goal by Roman Schmidt ended up as the game-winner for Kitchener. London cut the lead in half at 12:06 of the second period. A failed wrap around attempt by Sean McGurn acted more as a pass for Ryan Winterton at the other side of the net to slot the puck into the open goal.
Kitchener held a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes of play and shots favoured the Knights 23-22.
Kitchener kept London off the board in the third period and added four unanswered goals to take a commanding 6-1 lead. Francesco Pinelli scored the third Ranger goal 4:10 into the final frame. Pinelli jumped on a loose puck, circled in front of the net and roofed the puck into the top left corner. Just 29 seconds later, Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars) ripped a shot under the glove of Brochu to extend the lead to three and ending Brochu’s night. Mitchell Martin (13:06) and Ty Hollet (19:17) scored in the second half of the third period to secure the victory for the Rangers. Final shots favoured the Rangers 37-31.
Kitchener finished the game 1-for-6 on the power-play and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill. Marco Costantini earned the game’s third star making 30 saves and a .967 save percentage. Matthew Sop was the game’s second star with three assists. In his return to action, captain Francesco Pinelli was the game’s first star with two goals, one coming on the penalty kill.
Next Up: Kitchener will stay on home-ice for game four this Tuesday against the Knights. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. and great seats are still available here.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers
For inquiries, contact:
Dominic Hennig
Senior Director, Broadcasting, Communications & Hockey Operations
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
519-497-9342
[email protected]
