Rangers hand Attack first regulation loss of the season on Thanksgiving Monday
The Kitchener Rangers made it two straight wins on home ice after a 4-1 triumph over the Owen Sound Attack in front of 6,487 fans on Thanksgiving Monday at The Aud.
The Rangers (5-2-1-0) never trailed in the game, and handed the Attack (3-1-0-2) their first regulation loss of the regular season.
A big reason for the win, again, was the play of Rangers’ goaltender Anthony Dumont-Bouchard (5-0-0-0), who continues to come up with mammoth saves and a fierce focus between the pipes for the Blueshirts. He allowed just one goal against on Monday for the second time this season, making 29 saves.
His goals against average after today’s win improves to 1.80, while his save percentage increases to an impressive 0.940%.
His counterpart, Zack Bowman (3-1-0-1), took the loss allowing three goals on 25 saves.
It was 12:58 of the first period when the game’s scoring got underway, as Greg Meireles tallied his first of the season on a Rangers’ power play, potting a pretty backhand while perched in front of Bowman to give the home side a 1-0 lead. Rickard Hugg picked up the only assist.
It was the lone marker of the opening frame, which saw the Attack outshoot the Rangers, 10-9.
The Rangers were handed a roughing penalty after the whistle blew at the end of the first period, and were assessed again for tripping 1:13 into the second. Just 28 seconds into the 5-on-3 man advantage the Attack capitalized, as Sean Durzi made it a 1-1 game from Kevin Hancock and Nick Suzuki at 1:41.
It was the second straight period in which just one goal was scored, as the teams skated into the second intermission deadlocked at 1-1.
Shots on goal through 40 minutes of play favoured Owen Sound, 24-15.
Joseph Garreffa with his fourth goal of the season gave the Rangers back the lead, breaking into the Owen Sound zone with a burst of speed and beating Bowman at 2:52. Adam Liška earned the lone assist on the goal to put Kitchener up 2-1.
Jake Henderson gave the Rangers some insurance with his fourth of the season, from Logan Stanley and Riley Damiani, at 18:04 to make it a 3-1 game.
The Rangers iced the 4-1 victory when Damiani buried his fourth of the campaign into an empty net with just 57 seconds left on the clock to round out the afternoon affair.
Each team was awarded five opportunities with the man advantage, each scoring once.
Cole Carter (KIT) (3), Sean Durzi (OS) (2), and Anthony Dumont-Bouchard (KIT) (1) were selected as the Three Stars of the Game.
Stanley, Carter, and Adam Mascherin each wore an “A” and skated as alternates to Rangers’ captain Connor Bunnaman.
The Rangers are back in action Friday for another three-in-three which sees them on the road all weekend long. They face the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds at 7:07pm on October 13th before taking on the Saginaw Spirit at 7:05pm on Saturday, October 14th. They close out the weekend in Flint when they face the Firebirds at 4pm on Sunday, October 15th.
Their next game on home ice at The Aud is Friday, October 20th when they host the London Knights at 7:30pm.
Regular season tickets to all Kitchener Rangers home games are $23.00 each for adults, $19.00 for children 12 and under including HST, and are available in person or by calling the Activa Box Office at The Aud, from Centre in the Square (519) 578-1570 -or- 1-800-265-8977, or by purchasing online.
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