Kitchener ends Guelph’s home win streak at four games
Francesco Pinelli led the Kitchener Rangers to a 5-1 victory over the Guelph Storm at the Sleeman Centre on Saturday night.
Pinelli scored his second hat-trick of the 2022-23 season, adding an assist on Carson Rehkopf’s game-winner.
With the victory, the Rangers improved to 10-13-0-0, while the Storm dropped to 9-14-2-1. Kitchener moves within one point of Guelph, who remain in ninth place in the Western Conference.
Cam Allen scored a power play goal late in the third period to get Guelph on the board when he fired a shot past Kitchener goalie Marcus Vandenberg. However, it was too little too late for the Storm.
Matthew Sop opened the scoring to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead with 46.7 seconds left on the clock in the first period with his fifth goal of the year. It was his second short-handed goal of the season.
The Rangers boosted their lead to three with a pair of power play goals in the early stages of the second period. Carson Rehkopf wired a wrist shot past Guelph goaltender Jacob Oster for his 12th goal of the season, Francesco Pinelli added another tally 2:30 later to make it 3-0.
Pinelli wasn’t done there, he scored two more goals in the middle frame to put the game out of reach. The Rangers captain cashed in on his own rebound in front of Guelph’s net for the Rangers fourth goal of the game. Under 5 minutes later he fired a wrist shot past Jacob Oster to secure the hat-trick and his team-leading 16th goal of the season.
Guelph will face off with their Highway 7 rivals again on Tuesday night at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium with the puck dropping at 7:00pm.
Next Up
The Storm have another meeting with their Highway 7 rivals in Kitchener at the Aud on Tuesday at 7:00pm. They’ll return to the Sleeman Centre on Friday, December 9 at 7:30pm for the first of back-to-back games against the Owen Sound Attack. Tickets for the next home game can be found here: 21506-owen-sound-attack-at-guelph-storm
Game Notes
Kitchener Rangers 5 at Guelph Storm 1 – Status: Final
Saturday, December 3, 2022 – Sleeman Centre
Kitchener 1 4 0 – 5
Guelph 0 0 1 – 1
1st Period-1, Kitchener, Sop 5 (Reid Valade, Schmidt), 19:13 (SH). Penalties-Pinelli Kit (roughing), 9:48; Andonovski Kit (slashing), 18:38.
2nd Period-2, Kitchener, Rehkopf 12 (Brzustewicz, Pinelli), 2:33 (PP). 3, Kitchener, Pinelli 14 (Rehkopf, Brzustewicz), 5:03 (PP). 4, Kitchener, Pinelli 15 (Sop, Hamara), 14:58. 5, Kitchener, Pinelli 16 (Swick), 19:26 (SH). Penalties-Grundner Gue (hooking), 1:09; Sandhu Gue (interference), 3:49; Allen Gue (cross checking), 11:27; Zidlicky Kit (slashing), 17:58.
3rd Period-6, Guelph, Allen 4 (Buchinger, Karabela), 16:35 (PP). Penalties-Grundner Gue (high sticking), 2:26; Pinelli Kit (slashing), 14:33; Reid Valade Kit (high sticking), 15:35; McGuire Gue (high sticking), 19:36.
Shots on Goal-Kitchener 9-14-8-31. Guelph 5-11-7-23.
Power Play Opportunities-Kitchener 2 / 5; Guelph 1 / 5.
Goalies-Kitchener, Vandenberg 2-2-0-0 (23 shots-22 saves). Guelph, Oster 6-10-2-0 (23 shots-18 saves); Grimes 1-3-0-0 (8 shots-8 saves).
Timeouts —
A-3,984
Referees-Brody McGrath (73), Jack Hennigan (4).
Linesmen-Alexandra Clarke (134), David Elford (67).