Game Preview: Rangers return Home for Friday tilt against North Bay

Category: video3 November 2023

Kitchener, ON – The Rangers look to bounce back after back-to-back road losses as they return to The Aud on Friday. Kitchener hosts an out-of-conference foe the North Bay Battalion for one of two games set this season. Puck drop is set for 7 pm.

Head-to-Head:

The Rangers are currently placed second in the league with a record of 9-5-0-0 while the Battalion is ranked eighth with a 6-4-3-1 record. In the Rangers’ most recent action, they were defeated on the road by Windsor 4-3 on Thursday night. North Bay also dropped a 5-4 overtime decision to the Wolves in Sudbury on Wednesday night.

Kitchener owns a 7-2-1-0 record over the Battalion in the last 10 meetings dating back to the 2016-17 campaign. The Rangers have dominated them in the past at The Aud with a 5-0-0-0 record against the Battalion. This past season the two clubs faced off twice, the Rangers winning both of those games. The last time these two teams saw each other was on November 18th, 2022, at The Aud. The Rangers won 3-2 in regulation. Current Rangers, Tomas Hamara (Ottawa) and Simon Motew both recorded an assist. Returning Battalion skaters Dalyn Wakely, Ty Nelson (Seattle), Liam Arnsby (Florida), and Owen Van Steensel recorded points for North Bay in that game.

On the ice for Friday’s game are the league’s top six point-getters. North Bay forwards Anthony Romani (21), and Wakely (21) are following behind Rangers’ Hunter Brzustewicz (25), Carson Rehkopf (23), Matthew Sop (22) and Adrian Misaljevic (21). The Rangers own the top four spots.

Kitchener has the league’s sixth-best power play converting at a 26.5% rate, while North Bay is sitting 13^th in the league converting at 15.8%. While playing at The Aud the Rangers’ penalty kill sits at 87.0%, the fourth-best penalty kill on home ice. However, Kitchener is coming off a perfect 4- for-4 on the penalty kill in their last home game on October 27. North Bay’s penalty-kill is ranked ninth best at 80.7% and when playing on the road it rises to 86.7%.

Scouting the Rangers:

The Rangers return home from away games in Owen Sound and Windsor where they kept both games close and within at least two goals. The Rangers have managed to stay a top of the leaderboards.

Brzustewicz continues to lead the Rangers and the league with 26 points, five goals, and 21 assists. In the last two games on the road, Brzustewicz has recorded an assist in each to keep his 13-game point streak alive.

Since returning to the Rangers a week ago Filip Mešár (Montreal) has grabbed five points with two goals and three assists in his first three games this season.

Rehkopf (Seattle), Mešár (Montreal), Brzustewicz (Vancouver), Matthew Andonovski (Ottawa), and Hamara (Ottawa) are five Rangers skaters drafted to the NHL.

Scouting the Battalion:

North Bay enters play after losing in Sudbury to the Wolves on Wednesday night. The Battalion in the last five games has a 2-1-2-0 record and has scored 20 times in these games averaging 4.00 goals a game.

Kitchener native Justin Ertel (Dallas) is playing his second game back home in Kitchener for the Battalion. Ertel was drafted in the third- round in the 2021 NHL Draft by the Dallas Stars. He has played 13 games this season for North Bay and has recorded eight points (3G, 5A).

2022-23 Jim Rutherford Trophy (OHL Goaltender of the Year) winner Domenic DiVincentiis is out with a lower-body injury and is considered week-to-week as per the North Bay Battalion.

Ertel (Dallas), Arnsby (Florida), Pasquale Zito (Detroit), Mathurin Tnias (Detroit), Ty Nelson (Seattle), and DiVincentiis (Winnipeg) are six Battalion players drafted to the NHL.

Broadcast Coverage:

Friday’s match vs the North Bay Battalion will be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20, and can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pak on channel 470 for cable subscribers. The game will be streamed live online on OHL Live on CHL TV. Additionally, fans can listen to Friday night’s action on the radio on CityNews 570 AM CKGL.

Next Up:

Kitchener faces off in London against the Knights on Sunday at the Budweiser Gardens. Puck drop is set for 6:00 pm. The Rangers head to Owen Sound for a mid-week match at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre before returning to The Aud on Friday, November 10^th for their Remembrance Day game. Don’t miss any of the action on home ice. You can purchase tickets at The Aud Box Office sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online here.

Photo credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers

For inquiries, contact:

Lindsay Eastwood
Manager of Communications and Team Services
Kitchener Rangers Hockey Club
613-793-0168
[email protected]