RANGERS STING SARNIA WITH 3-2 WIN
Brandon Robinson scored the game winning goal and added an assist in the Kitchener Rangers’ 3-2 win over the Sarnia Sting on Friday night. Darby Llewellyn and Nick Magyar also scored for the Rangers, who have won seven straight games at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
The Sting hit the scoreboard late in the first frame, opening the scoring with 71 seconds to play before intermission. Alexandre Renaud redirected Jeff King’s long shot past netminder Jake Paterson, picking up his 10th of the year. Alex Black also earned an assist on the play.
Kitchener led shots on goal 9-3 after 20 minutes.
The Rangers capitalized with the man advantage near the midway point of the second period. Sophomore Ryan MacInnis connected with Darby Llewellyn at the side of the Sting net, and the veteran winger slid a shot by Justin Fazio for his 14th of the season. The Ann Arbor, MI native has scored twice in the season series with the Sting. Brandon Robinson picked up a helper on the play, tying his previous career best with 34 points.
Less than three minutes later, Nick Magyar lifted the Rangers to a 2-1 lead. The Colorado Avalanche prospect collected a quick pass from rookie Connor Bunnaman and snapped a wrist shot past Fazio to record his 14th of the year, and fifth goal in as many games. Llewellyn earned his second point of the night with the second assist.
The Rangers out-shot Sarnia 13-11 in the second period.
Robinson’s team-leading 18th goal of the year put Kitchener ahead 3-1 with just over nine minutes to play. MacInnis picked off the puck in the neutral zone and raced into Sting territory before passing it back to the Pickering, ON native. Robinson fired a high shot over the glove of Fazio to pick up his seventh point in five games.
The Sting took advantage of a power play opportunity to narrow the gap to a single goal. Jakob Chychrun fired a point shot past Paterson to notch the 11th of his rookie season. Assists on play were credited to Stephen Pierog and Nikita Korostelev. The first overall pick in the 2014 Priority Selection, Chychrun was named OHL Rookie of the Month for January.
The Sting led shots on goal 16-9 in the third period, but the Rangers did finish with a 31-30 overall advantage on the shot clock.
With the win, the Rangers improve to 24-16-3-6 and sit three points ahead of Sarnia for fifth place in the Western Conference.
Scoring
1. SAR A. Renaud, (10) (J. King, A. Black), 18:49
2. KIT D. Llewellyn, (14) (R. MacInnis, B. Robinson), 12:26 (PP)
2. KIT N. Magyar, (14) (C. Bunnaman, D. Llewellyn), 15:02
3. KIT B. Robinson, (18) (R. MacInnis), 10:57
3. SAR J. Chychrun, (11) (S. Pierog, N. Korostelev), 12:16 (PP)
Attendance: 7180
Three Stars
1. KIT – 27 Darby Llewellyn
2. KIT – 19 Brandon Robinson
3. SAR – 5 Jakob Chychrun
The next Rangers home game is Sunday, February 8 when we host the Sault Ste Marie Greyhounds at 6:00pm. Tickets to all Kitchener Rangers home games are now available by phone at 519-578-1570 or 1-800-265-8977, via the internet at www.centre-square.com or in person at the Centre In the Square Box Office or the Kitchener Auditorium Box Office.
