Friday OHL Highlights: Rangers rescued by Santala’s two-goal finish
Saginaw Spirit vs. Kitchener Rangers
Final: 4 (KIT) – 3 (SAG) – OT
Kitchener tied the game with 1:53 left in regulation and won it 10 seconds into overtime.
- Luca Santala tied the score at three with 1:53 remaining and scored the overtime winner 10 seconds into the extra frame
- Luca Romano, Alexander Bilecki and Alex Forrest each collected two assists as Kitchener won a third straight
- The Rangers outshot Saginaw 31-16 and improved to 4-2
- Braidy Wassilyn potted a pair to extend his goal-scoring streak to five games, giving him six on the season
Windsor Spitfires vs. Guelph Storm
Final: 4 (GUE) – 2 (WSR)
Guelph built a 3-0 lead and held off Windsor for a third straight win.
- Tyler Hopkins scored twice to help build the 3-0 Guelph lead
- Ryan Roobroeck scored and collected the 200th point of his OHL career
- Owen Griffin found an empty net, while Ben Hrebik stopped 23 of 25 for the win
- Beksultan Makysh and Bogdan Yakushevsky accounted for the Windsor goals, with Michael Newlove making 28 saves
Peterborough Petes vs. Kingston Frontenacs
Final: 5 (KGN) – 3 (PBO)
Kingston built a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes and held on to snap a three-game losing slide.
- Matthew Minchak made 43 saves in the Kingston win
- Nolan Snyder and Nolan Buttar scored 21 seconds apart in the second period to put things out of reach
- Matthew Henderson, Andre Mondoux and Adam Kelly each scored their first goal of the season, while Landon Wright, Aleks Kulemin and Robin Kuzma collected two assists apiece
- Mason Minsky scored his first OHL goal and added an assist for Peterborough, where Matthew Koprowski made 23 saves in his Petes debut
Brampton Steelheads vs. Brantford Bulldogs
Final: 5 (BFD) – 4 (BRAM) – SO
Brampton pushed the undefeated Bulldogs to a shootout before Brantford stayed perfect.
- Adam Nemec potted the shootout winner and Vilmer Salen Forsberg secured the victory as Brantford improved to 6-0
- Jason Musa scored twice and added an assist, while Jack Good’s first OHL goal tied the score in the third
- Aiden Kelly collected three assists for the Bulldogs, who won despite being outshot 48-28
- Jared Harding scored a pair for Brampton, with Keaton Ardagh and Nathan Amidovski also tallying as the Steelheads earned their first point and sit at 0-5-0-1
Niagara IceDogs vs. Sudbury Wolves
Final: 7 (SBY) – 1 (NIAG)
A six-goal third period powered Sudbury to a franchise-best 5-0 start.
- Jean-Cristoph Lemieux scored a pair of power-play goals and added two assists as Sudbury went 5-for-6 on the man advantage
- Adam Nemec recorded a goal and four assists, while Jan Chovan added a goal and three assists
- Genc Ula, Norman Greene and Vladimir Provorov rounded out the Sudbury scoring in front of 30 saves on 31 shots from Paolo Frasca
- Noah Read opened the scoring 3:42 into the first period, but Niagara was held scoreless the rest of the way and went 0-for-7 on the power play
Soo Greyhounds vs. Sarnia Sting
Final: 4 (SOO) – 3 (SAR) – OT
The Soo spoiled opening night in Sarnia with a goal 26 seconds from the end of overtime.
- Jordan Charron scored his first of the season with 26 seconds left in overtime
- Colin Fitzgerald scored twice and Travis Hayes tallied, while Jakub Winkelhofer collected two assists as the Greyhounds improved to 4-1
- Landon Miller stopped 31 of 34 in the Soo crease
- Brenner Lammens, Chase Gaughan and Alessandro Di Iorio provided the Sarnia goals, with Ivan Tkach-Tkachenko making 30 saves
Ottawa 67’s vs. Oshawa Generals
Final: 4 (OTT) – 1 (OSH)
Ottawa bounced back from surrendering 10 goals on Sunday with a 29-save night in goal.
- Jaeden Nelson stopped 29 of 30 shots for the 67’s
- Nic Whitehead, Brayden Krawczyk and Ondrej Ruml each scored their first goal of the season
- Spencer Bowes hit an empty net and Brock Chitaroni collected two assists
- Aiden O’Donnell scored the lone Oshawa marker, where Jaden Cholette made 31 saves as the Generals fell to 3-3
North Bay Battalion vs. London Knights
Final: 4 (LDN) – 1 (NB)
London was outshot 39-21 but got a 38-save night in goal to stay unbeaten.
- Aleksei Medvedev turned in a first star performance with 38 saves
- Marcus Nordmark scored his first OHL goal, while Thomas Zocco, Jaxon Cover and Cohen Bidgood added markers
- Jonathan Kapageridis collected two assists against his former team, and Juho Piiparinen made his OHL debut for London
- Evgeny Dubrovtsev provided the North Bay goal, his fifth of the season, as the Knights improved to 4-0
