Game Preview: Kitchener Hosts Eastern Conference-leading Sudbury Wolves for a Sunday Matinée

Game Preview: Kitchener Hosts Eastern Conference-leading Sudbury Wolves for a Sunday Matinée

Kitchener, ON – The Rangers look to earn another two points on Sunday afternoon against the first-place team in the Eastern Conference, the Sudbury Wolves. Puck drop is slated for 2 pm at The Aud.

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HEAD-TO-HEAD

This Season:

The Kitchener Rangers were up North in Sudbury on January 6^th, when they lost 7-5 to the Wolves. Eight Sudbury skaters registered a point, Landon McCallum (1G, 1A), Kocha Delic (1G, 2A), Alex Pharand (Chicago Blackhawks – 1G, 1A), Andre Anania (1G, 1A), David Goyette (2G,  1A), Kieron Walton (1G), Quentin Musty (San Jose Sharks – 2A), and Evan Konyen (1A). Seven current Rangers skaters got onto the scoresheet, Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken – 3G, 1A), Hunter Brzustewicz (Calgary Flames – 1G, 1A), Matthew Sop (1G), Luke Ellinas (2A), and Adrian Misaljevic (2A), Trent Swick (1A) and Carson Campbell (1A).

Over the Years:

The two clubs have played each other 11 times dating back to the 2016-17 season, with the Rangers owning the overall advantage at 5-4-1-1. When playing at The Aud the Rangers have a 4-0-1-0 record, the only game at The Aud the Rangers dropped against the Wolves was in overtime on October 7^th, 2018, with a 3-2 final score. Over these 11 games, the Rangers have scored 50 goals while the Wolves have scored 43. The best Rangers campaign was the 2016-17 season when Kitchener went undefeated.

Team Statistics:

Kitchener

Overall Power Play: 7^th in the OHL at 22.3%

Home Power Play: 7^th in the OHL at 23%

Overall Penalty Kill: 6^th in the OHL at 81.5%

Home Penalty Kill: 1^st in the OHL at 85.6%

Sudbury

Overall Power Play: 5^th in the OHL at 22.5%

Away Power Play: 8^th in the OHL at 23.2%

Overall Penalty Kill: 16^th in the OHL at 76.8%

Away Penalty Kill: 16^th in the OHL at 75.4%

SCOUTING THE RANGERS (32-19-2-0)

4^th in the Western Conference, 6^th in the OHL / 6^th in Week 19 of the OHL Power Rankings

Last Time Out:                                                                                                                                   

The Rangers last faced off against the Mississauga Steelheads on Friday night where they won in overtime. Matthew Sop finished the game with two goals including the game-winner. Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) opened the scoring 29 seconds into the contest and registered two assists, Simon Motew and Trent Swick each added a goal and Hunter Brzustewicz (Calgary Flames) had one goal and one assist. Adrian Misaljevic had a two-point night with two assists and Luke Ellinas got on the board with one assist. Cameron Reid played in his first game back since January 14^th and put up two assists.

Rangers to Watch:

• Hunter Brzustewicz (Calgary Flames) is leading the Rangers in points (75), assists (65), and power play assists (18) in 53 games. Over his last four games, Brzustewicz has registered two goals and four assists.
• Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) is second in points for the Rangers with 41 goals and 32 assists for 73 points in 46 games. Rehkopf is also second in goals, he is tied for third most power-play goals (13), he has the second most game-winning goals (7), and tied for the most insurance goals (6) in the league. Rehkopf is on a four-game point streak with seven points (4G, 3A) during those games.
• The Rangers overtime hero, Matthew Sop now has five overtime goals this season and eight game-winning goals which is first in the league. Sop has a 33-39-72 stat line in 53 games ranking as the Rangers third top point-getter. Over the past 10 games, Sop has nine points (7G, 2A).

Goaltending:

• Jackson Parsons played in the Rangers’ most recent game on Friday night against the Mississauga Steelheads. Parsons was faced with 42 shots and allowed five against. In Parsons’ 40 games this season he has a 21-14-1-0 record, a 3.10 goals against average and a .894 save percentage.

SCOUTING THE WOLVES (37-13-0-1)

1^st in the Eastern Conference, 3^rd in the OHL / 3^rd in Week 19 of the OHL Power Rankings

Last Time Out:

The Sudbury Wolves hosted the Saginaw Spirit on Friday night, finishing the game with a 6-3 win. Dalibor Dvorský (St. Louis Blues) grabbed the game’s first goal followed by two assists, Kieron Walton registered his second OHL Career hat trick, Ryan Pryce had one goal and Evan Konyen got in on the scoring with one goal and one assist. Nathan Villeneuve, Nick Yearwood, Matthew Mania (Los Angeles Kings), and David Goyette (Seattle Kraken) each grabbed an assist, and Chase Coughlan had two assists.

Wolves to Watch:

• David Goyette (Seattle Kraken) is leading the league in points, is fifth in goals, and second in assists with a 31-55-86 stat line in 52 games. Goyette is currently on a 10-game point streak with 19 points, five goals, and 14 assists in these games. In the last game against the Rangers, Goyette had two goals and one assist.
• Quentin Musty was drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 2023 NHL Draft 26^th Musty has played 39 games this season registering 28 goals and 41 assists for 69 points. He got onto a point streak on Friday night, over three games he has three goals and four assists for seven points. Musty has the most game-winning goals (5) and second most power play goals (9) on the Wolves.
• Dalibor Dvorský (St. Louis Blues) is the third in points for the Wolves. In 36 OHL games, Dvorský has 30 goals and 28 assists for 58 points. He is on a three-game point streak with three goals and three assists over these games. Dvorský has 10 power play goals and four first goals which ranks first among the Wolves.

Goaltender:

• On December 8^th former Rangers goaltender Marcus Vandenberg was traded from the Niagara IceDogs to the Sudbury Wolves in exchange for a pair of third-round OHL Priority Selections. Vandenberg has played 15 games for the Wolves this season having an 8-2-1-2 record, a 4.04 goals-against average, and a .865 save percentage. Vandenberg last returned to The Aud on December 1^st with the IceDogs, when he was faced with 47 shots allowing three goals against to finish the game with a 2.89 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.

Drafted Wolves:

Alex Pharand (Chicago Blackhawks), Quentin Musty (San Jose Sharks), Dalibor Dvorský (St. Louis Blues), David Goyette (Seattle Kraken), Nolan Collins (Pittsburgh Penguins), Matthew Mania (Los Angeles Kings) and Jakub Vondras (Carolina Hurricanes) are eight Sudbury Wolves skaters that are drafted to the NHL.

BROADCAST COVERAGE

Sunday’s game vs the Sudbury Wolves will not be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV on channel 20. However, fans can listen to Sunday afternoon’s action on the radio on CityNews 570 AM CKGL.

UP NEXT:

The Rangers head to Peterborough on Monday for some Family Day action against the Petes. Puck drop is set for 2:05 pm at the Peterborough Memorial Centre. The Rangers return home on Friday, February 23^rd for a 7 pm puck drop against the Sarnia Sting for their last matchup of the season. Don’t miss any of The Aud action! Great tickets are still available, grab your tickets at The Aud Box Office sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online here.

For inquiries, contact:

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

Photo Credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers