Storm stumped by Gibson

By Tony Saxon, Guelph Mercury – Kitchener Rangers keeper stops 49 shots as Guelph falls 2-0 in series.

Better effort, better execution, same result.

Sunday, the Guelph Storm fixed many of the things that led to their downfall in the first game of their playoff series with the Kitchener Rangers, but they couldn’t solve John Gibson.

The standout Rangers goaltender made 49 saves, including 23 in the first period, to lead his team to a 2-0 victory at The Aud.

Kitchener now leads the best-of-seven series 2-0, with Game 3 set for Guelph Tuesday night.

Even without the help of a notoriously liberal shot clock in the Kitchener rink, Gibson was outstanding, almost singlehandedly winning the game.

“He’s a good goalie. He won MVP at the World Juniors so we didn’t expect anything less from him and he’s giving us his ‘A’ game. We just have to figure out a way to score on him,” Storm forward Cody McNaughton said.

“I thought we played a really good game … but Gibson stood on his head tonight,” added teammate Tanner Richard.

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Guelph Storm 0 at Kitchener Rangers 2 – Status: Final
Sunday, March 24, 2013 – Kitchener Memorial Auditorium

Guelph 0 0 0 – 0
Kitchener 0 1 1 – 2

1st Period- No Scoring.Penalties-Pedan Gue (roughing), 9:43; Thomson Kit (roughing), 9:43; Horvat Gue (slashing), 19:22.

2nd Period-1, Kitchener, Puempel 2 (Bailey), 10:18. Penalties-Bailey Kit (holding), 8:03; Fanelli Kit (slashing), 11:00.

3rd Period-2, Kitchener, Ming 1 (Meighan, Alberga), 1:59. Penalties-Bertuzzi Gue (boarding), 4:08; Bertuzzi Gue (roughing, roughing), 18:08; Gibson Kit (roughing), 18:08; Mitchell Gue (high sticking), 18:40; McNaughton Gue (slashing, misc-usc), 19:00; Pedan Gue (high sticking), 19:00; Puempel Kit (slashing), 19:00; Horvat Gue (roughing), 19:25.

Shots on Goal-Guelph 23-13-13-49. Kitchener 11-16-13-40.
Power Play Opportunities-Guelph 0 / 2; Kitchener 0 / 5.
Goalies-Guelph, Sparks 0-2-0-0 (38 shots-36 saves); Nishi 0-0-0-0 (2 shots-2 saves). Kitchener, Gibson 2-0-0-0 (49 shots-49 saves).
A-6,104
Referees-Bob Langdon (7), Sean Reid (26).
Linesmen-Adam Harris (49), Mike Harrington (90).