Rangers Double Up Ice Dogs 4-2
The Niagara Ice Dogs visited The Aud on Friday evening to close out the Kitchener Rangers preseason schedule.
A relatively quiet and scoreless first period saw both clubs trade man advantage opportunities with the Ice Dogs holding a 14-7 shooting edge.
Niagara jumped out to a 1-0 lead at 6:44 of the second period on a goal by Matt Baldassarra. The goal came shortly after the Rangers Michael Catenacci was robbed on two point blank shots by Ice Dogs goaltender John Chartrand.
It didn’t take long for Kitchener to respond though. Fifty-three seconds later, Eric Ming scored on a Ryan Murphy rebound.
Ben Thomson gave the Rangers the lead at 11:50 of the period burying a Charlie Dodero rebound shot into a wide open net.
There were seven minor penalties in the period, four to Niagara and three to the Rangers. The Rangers out-shot the Ice Dogs 18-15 in the period.
In the third period, Gabriel Landeskog put the Rangers up 3-1 after snapping home a pass across the slot from Jason Akeson at 10:27.
Zach Lorentz continued his preseason scoring prowess at 14:17 of the third. He banged in a rebound at the side of the net for the game’s first power-play marker.
Andrew Fritsch closed out the game’s scoring at 16:10 by converting a Mitchell Theoret pass making it 4-2.
Mike Morrison was strong in net for the Rangers turning away 37 of 39 Niagara shots. The Rangers had 36 shots in the game.
Notes:
Jason Akeson returned to the line-up after attending the Anaheim Ducks rookie camp in British Columbia.
The Rangers return to action on Friday, September 24th for their regular season home opener vs the Saginaw Spirit. Game time is 7:30pm. Tickets may be purchased by phone at 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, via the internet at www.theaud.ca, in person at the Aud Box Office or Centre in the Square Box Office.
A reminder to all season ticket holders that season ticket packages are available for pick up at The Aud box office.
Box office hours:
Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm