Rangers defeat Storm in first of back-to-back meetings between Highway 7 rivals
Francesco Pinelli led the Kitchener Rangers to a 4-3 victory over the Guelph Storm at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Friday night.
Pinelli potted the game-winning goal when he fired a wrist shot past Guelph goalie Patrick Leaver after a cross-ice pass from Francesco Arcuri. The Rangers captain finished the game with two goals and an assists, earining first star of the game honours, he’s up to 29 goals with 58 points on the season.
With the victory, Kitchener improves to 20-22-2-0, Guelph falls to 21-21-4-1 . The Rangers move into eighth place in the Western Conference, inside a playoff spot, while the Storm remain in sixth.
It was Francesco Pinelli who opened the scoring in this one, when he ripped a wrist shot over the blocker-side shoulder of Patrick Leaver. It was his first goal of the game and his 28th of the year.
Carson Rehkopf added another Rangers tally 3:48 later, banging a rebound into the back of the Storm net. He’s up to a career-high 20 goals on the season.
Just 35 seconds into the second frame, Braeden Bowman scored a power play goal to get Guelph on the board with their first goal of the game. It was the Kitchener, Ontario, born forward’s 19th goal of the season, he’s averaging 1.09 points per game in the 2022-23 regular season.
With 3:28 to go in the middle period Francesco Arcuri netted a goal on a tip-in to push Kitchener’s lead back up to two goals. It was Arcuri’s team-leading 33rd goal of the year.
Pinelli potted the game-winner with under seven minutes to go in the final period. The Los Angeles Kings’ prospect leads the Rangers in points and has scored six game-winners this year and 12 in his OHL career.
Guelph scored a pair of short-handed goals in the final minute of play, but it was too little, too late for the Storm.
Cooper Walker put the puck past Rangers goaltender Marco Costantini on the rush for what was his 11th goal of the campaign. The Guelph captain is on a three-game point streak with goals in back-to-back games.
Ben McFarlane scoed another late short handed goal for the Storm when he teed up a one-timer slap shot just 12 seconds after Walker’s marker. It was McFarlane’s eighth goal of the year.
The Storm will get another crack at their Highway 7 rivals on Sunday at 2:00pm when the teams face off at the Sleeman Centre.
Next Up:
It’s home cooking for the Storm over the next three games, they’ll return to the Sleeman Centre for another meeting with their Highway 7 rivals on Sunday at 2:00pm. Next Friday, they’ll face off against the Flint Firebirds at 7:30pm, then, against the London Knights the following night at 7:00pm. Tickets to the next home game can be found by clicking here.
Game Notes:
Guelph Storm 3 at Kitchener Rangers 4 – Status: Final
Friday, February 3, 2023 – Kitchener Memorial Auditorium
Guelph 0 1 2 – 3
Kitchener 2 1 1 – 4
1st Period-1, Kitchener, Pinelli 28 (Brzustewicz), 7:37. 2, Kitchener, Rehkopf 20 (Sop, Brzustewicz), 11:25. Penalties-Bowman Gue (interference), 17:39; Hamara Kit (interference), 19:59.
2nd Period-3, Guelph, Bowman 19 (Namestnikov, Walker), 0:35 (PP). 4, Kitchener, Arcuri 33 (Martin, Pinelli), 16:32. Penalties-Allen Gue (roughing), 2:16; Namestnikov Gue (inter. on goaltender), 2:16; Zhilkin Kit (roughing), 2:16; Bowman Gue (hooking), 12:19; Romeo Gue (cross checking), 17:08; Romeo Gue (high sticking), 19:59.
3rd Period-5, Kitchener, Pinelli 29 (Arcuri, Moore), 13:24. 6, Guelph, Walker 11 (McFarlane, Robinson), 19:13 (SH). 7, Guelph, McFarlane 8 (Walker, Bowman), 19:25 (SH). Penalties-Karabela Gue (tripping), 3:51; Motew Kit (interference), 6:32; Schmidt Kit (cross checking), 15:01; Enright Gue (kneeing), 18:56.
Shots on Goal-Guelph 7-12-14-33. Kitchener 17-13-7-37.
Power Play Opportunities-Guelph 1 / 3; Kitchener 0 / 7.
Goalies-Guelph, Leaver 16-15-1-2 (37 shots-33 saves). Kitchener, Costantini 15-13-1-0 (33 shots-30 saves).
Timeouts — Timeout 00:30 Guelph@19:13
A-7,166
Referees-Dave Lewis (16), Danny Emerson (19).
Linesmen-Kyle Rodgers (59), Dave Pfohl (96).