Crescenzi Scores a Pair to Lead the Rangers to a 5-2 Win
The Kitchener Rangers defeated the OHL Champion Owen Sound Attack 5-3 Friday night at The Aud. The game was the Rangers’ first against a division rival this season.
Rookie Brent Pedersen opened the scoring for Kitchener in the first period, beating Jordan Binnington high blocker-side on the power play and extending his goal-scoring streak to three in three games. Assisting on the goal were Tobias Rieder and captain Michael Catenacci.
Josh Sterk lifted the puck over a sprawling Binnington at 14:30 to extend Kitchener’s lead to two. The goal was his first as a Ranger after being chosen in the fifth round of this year’s OHL Priority Selection. Julian Melchiori and Curtis Meighan were credited with assists.
Both teams finished the opening frame with 15 shots on goal.
The Rangers came out firing in the second. Cody Sol unleashed a huge shot from the point in the first minute that beat Binnington five-hole to make it 3-0. The goal was the first of the season for Sol, who was officially named as an alternate captain earlier in the day. Andrew Crescenzi and Ben Thomson picked up the helpers.
The Attack would battle back in the period, starting with a power play marker from Gemel Smith with assists from Jake Dotchin and Artur Gavrus. A minute and a half later, Daniel Catenacci would close the gap to one, beating Gibson on the short-side for his sixth goal of the season.
Kitchener responded on the power play with a puck from Crescenzi that trickled past Binnington to make it 4-2 Rangers. The goal was his second of the season. Defenseman Ryan Murphy picked up an assist, his first point of the year in his first game back in the team’s line-up. The third-year blueliner was returned to the team by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. Tobias Rieder was credited with the other assist, pushing his scoring streak to four games.
Gibson was busy in the second period, as the Attack out-shot the Rangers 15-9.
The Attack would close the gap with just over five minutes to play. Joseph Blandisi caught a clearing pass at the blue line and fed it to Zach Nastasiuk, who went behind the net for the wrap around goal.
Crescenzi found an empty net for the Rangers to make it 5-3 with less than 40 seconds to play. His second of the night sealed the win for Kitchener, who improve to a record of 4-3-0-0 this season.
The Attack continued to outshoot the Rangers with a 13-6 advantage in the frame, but Gibson stopped 40 of the 43 pucks he faced and picked up his fourth win of the season.
This was the first game of a home-and-home series with the defending OHL Champions. The two teams meet again on Saturday night in Owen Sound.
Scoring
1. KIT Pedersen, (4) (Rieder, Catenacci), 3:43 (PP)
1. KIT Sterk, (1) (Melchiori, Meighan), 14:30
2. KIT Sol, (1) (Crescenzi, Thomson), 1:01
2. OS Smith, (5) (Dotchin, Gavrus), 11:53 (PP)
2. OS Catenacci, (6) (Schemitsch), 13:26
2. KIT Crescenzi, (2) (Murphy, Rieder) 15:19 (PP)
3. OS Nastasiuk, (3) (Blandisi), 14:18
3. KIT Crescenzi, (3) (Thomson), 19:21 (EN)
Three Stars
1 – KIT #20 Crescenzi
2 – OS #9 Smith
3 – KIT #16 Pedersen
Attendance: 6,495
Kitchener travels to Owen Sound tomorrow for a 7:30pm game versus the Attack. They will also visit Windsor on Thursday, October 20th for a 7:05pm game against the Spitfires. They return to home ice on Friday, October 21st at 7:30pm when they play host to the Sarnia Sting. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, via the internet or in person at The Aud Box Office or Centre in the Square Box Office.
