Rangers earn second straight 4-2 road win

 

Dawson Carty got the game puck tonight, and in head coach Mike Van Ryn’s eyes, there’s no one who deserved it more.

Carty stopped 34 of 36 shots he faced as the Kitchener Rangers picked up their second consecutive 4-2 win, this time over the Sudbury Wolves in front of 2,570 fans at the Sudbury Community Arena on Friday night.

The Mississauga native came up with timely, and often times tough saves to help propel his team to its second road win of the season and a 2-0-1-0 record.

Van Ryn praised the goaltender, who saw action in his first game this season following starts by crease-mate Luke Opilka in last Friday’s season opener against the Owen Sound Attack and last night’s 4-2 win in North Bay.

“If it wasn’t for him, we probably don’t win that game,” stated Van Ryn. “He came up with some real big saves for us. When you’ve got a goalie like that who can step up when needed and get you a win, that’s a huge plus to a hockey team.”

For a Rangers team who struggled to pick up wins away from The Aud last season, both the results of this mini-road swing and the encouragement of Van Ryn is equating into confidence – and results – for Rangers bodies, like Adam Mascherin.

“Coach is giving me a lot of opportunities and has given me a lot of confidence,” said Mascherin, post-game. “I feel like a new guy as opposed to last year. I think my game is improving.

“He’s putting me out there and letting me prove that I can not only play in the offensive end, but also in my own end as well.”

The ice time paid off for Mascherin tonight as he was one of four different goal-getters for the visitors. Ryan MacInnis continued his rampant return to the OHL with a two-point effort on the night, scoring a goal and adding an assist.

Despite coming away with the two points Van Ryn says there are still areas in which his team can improve on moving forward in the early stages of the season.

“We looked a little tired in the second and third, but we just have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we can do to be better in those situations. I know it wasn’t from a lack of effort. I can see their faces when they’re coming off the ice, I can see how tired they were. They were giving it their all.

“But you know what, if I look back at the last two years, in those games we probably don’t find a way to win that game like we did tonight. So maybe our guys are becoming a little more resilient here.”

The Rangers were resilient, battling back from a surrendered two-goal lead, but they were also once again strong out of the gate.

For the third straight game of the season the Rangers opened the scoring, this time on a goal by defenceman Dylan Di Perna, a power play marker and his first of the season, from Mason Kohn at 9:22 of the opening frame. MacInnis registered his first goal of the season to make it 2-0 from Connor Bunnaman and Mascherin at 14:14.

Shots were 12-7 in favour of the Rangers after a period largely dictated by the visitors heading into the first intermission.

The Sudbury squad got themselves back into the game, however, with a strong second period beginning with a power play marker. After back-to-back penalties to the Rangers early in the period, the Wolves pounced at 3:29 as David Levin – the first overall pick of the 2015 OHL Priority Selection – scored his second of the year 14 seconds after the Rangers first penalty expired to cut the Kitchener lead to 2-1. David Sokolov picked up the lone assist on the goal.

Pavel Jenys evened things up with his first goal of the season, assisted by Levin and Sokolov at 11:15 which wrapped up second period scoring. Sudbury outshot Kitchener 14-10 in the frame.

With the game deadlocked 2-2 with 2:01 left on the clock, it was Gustaf Franzen who emerged with a breakaway opportunity and capitalized, giving the Blueshirts the lead with an assist to MacInnis. With 27 seconds remaining and Troy Timpano pulled from the Sudbury net, Mascherin notched his second goal of the season after a nice feed from Bunnaman to solidify the 4-2 victory. Shots were 15-9 Sudbury in the third period, and 36-31 in favour of the Wolves after the final horn.

The Rangers would finish 1-for-3 with the man advantage while the Wolves were 1-for-4.

Timpano allowed three goals on 30 shots, getting dealt the loss in goal for the Wolves (1-2-0-0).

Mike Davies was absent from the Rangers lineup after taking a hit late in Thursday night’s game versus the Battalion. Nick Magyar left tonight’s game early and did not return after an early collision.

MacInnis, Frank Hora and Brian Brosnan each wore ‘A’s and skated as assistant captains for the game.

Timpano (3), Levin (2) and Carty (1) were chosen as the Three Stars of the game.

The Rangers are back in action on Friday, October 9th when they return to The Aud to host the Windsor Spitfires at 7:30pm. They host the Sudbury Wolves on Thanksgiving Monday for a 2pm matinee. Fans are asked to bring a monetary donation or non-perishable food item to Monday’s game to support The Food Bank of Waterloo Region in their annual food drive initiative.

Tickets for the Rangers next home game are available online at kitchenerrangers.com, through Centre in the Square, or by visiting The Aud Box Office.