Series HQ: Kitchener vs. Erie

Game 6: Ellinas’ OT winner sends Rangers to second round
Kitchener 4 at Erie 3 (OT) – Kitchener wins series 4-2

• Luke Ellinas scored the deciding goal 5:38 into overtime with an assist from Simon Motew, giving the Rangers their third overtime win of the series
• Seattle Kraken prospect Eduard Sale scored twice for the Rangers while Filip Mesar collected two helpers
• Trent Swick also scored for Kitchener
• Dylan Edwards, Carey Terrance and Pano Fimis scored Erie goals; Fimis tied the score at three with 2:54 remaining in the third period
• Overage blueliner Owain Johnston had two assists in his final OHL contest, joining teammates Ben Gaudreau and Brett Bressette in their final game
• Jackson Parsons stopped 29-of-32 for the win as Kitchener was outshot 32-29
• A crowd of 4,030 took in the Otters’ final home game of the campaign, making their return to the OHL Playoffs for the first time since 2017
• Kitchener advances to face the London Knights in the OHL Playoffs for a third straight season

Game Centre & Highlights

Luke Ellinas, OT hero!

Kitchener’s third overtime win of the series sends the @OHLRangers to the second round 🔵🔴#OHLPlayoffs | #KITvsER pic.twitter.com/09BFQZiiIZ

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 10, 2024

Game 5: Swick steps up in overtime
Kitchener 3 vs. Erie 2 (OT) – Kitchener leads series 3-2

• Trent Swick swatted a puck in the goalmouth into the back of the net 12:02 into overtime with assists from Filip Mesar and Carson Rehkopf
• Erie’s Dylan Edwards tied the score at two midway through the third period
• Tanner Lam and Matthew Sop provided other Ranger goals as Kitchener outshot Erie 50-33
• Pano Fimis also scored for the Otters, joining Edwards with a goal and an assist
• Ben Gaudreau was the game’s first star, stopping 47-of-50 in the overtime loss while Kitchener’s Jackson Parsons made 31 saves
• A Friday crowd of 7,160 took in Game 5 at the Aud
• Game 6 of the series goes Tuesday night in Erie

Game Centre & Highlights | Kitchener Post-Game

MAYHEM AT THE AUD 🤯

Trent Swick is the overtime-hero in Game 5, burying the game-winner in his return to the lineup to lead the @OHLRangers to victory against the Otters 📽️#OHLPlayoffs | #KITvsER pic.twitter.com/UCsc8JLlAr

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 6, 2024

Game 4: Otters tie series with big third period
Erie 5 vs. Kitchener 3 – Series tied 2-2

• Trailing 3-2, Erie scored three unanswered third period goals to defeat Kitchener and tie the series at two wins apiece
• Brett Bressette and Alexis Daviault scored the tying and winning goals less than two minutes apart before Martin Misiak hit the empty net to seal the deal
• Sam Alfano and Pano Fimis scored other Erie goals while Carey Terrance and Malcolm Spence each had two assists
• Carson Rehkopf, Filip Mesar and Luke Ellinas scored Kitchener goals while Eduard Sale had two assists
• Otters netminder Ben Gaudreau was the game’s first star, making 30 saves
• Jackson Parsons stopped 35-of-39 for Kitchener
• Trent Swick made his playoff debut for the Rangers
• A crowd of 4,216 took in Game 4 at Erie Insurance Arena

Game Centre & Highlights | Erie Post-Game

What a great night in the #814! pic.twitter.com/C9Ld5fKa1B

— Erie Otters 🦦 (@ErieOtters) April 5, 2024

Game 3: Bottineau leads Rangers comeback
Kitchener 4 at Erie 3 (OT) – Kitchener leads series 2-1

• The Rangers come back from down 3-0 to defeat the Otters 4-3 in overtime
• Justin Bottineau’s second of the night was the OT winner for the Rangers; he also tied the score at three in the third period
• Adrian Misaljevic and Antonino Pugliese scored other Kitchener goals; Pugliese finished with a goal and two assists
• Rookie forward Luca Romano chipped in with three helpers for the Rangers
• Sam Alfano and Dylan Edwards each scored their fourth goal of the playoffs, while Kaleb Smith scored the other Erie goal
• Martin Misiak appeared in his first career OHL playoff game
• Erie outshot Kitchener 43-27 as Jackson Parsons made 40 saves in the win
• Ben Gaudreau made 23 saves in his return to the Erie crease for the first time since Jan 21st
• A Tuesday night crowd of 4,052 witnessed the first playoff game in Erie since May 12th, 2017

Game Centre & Highlights | Kitchener Post-Game | Erie Post-Game

JUSTIN BOTTINEAU CALLS GAME 😤

The @OHLRangers complete the comeback in overtime to take a 2-1 series lead ✅#OHLPlayoffs | #KITvsER pic.twitter.com/ngywJ30j1k

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) April 3, 2024

Game 2: Four-goal third period sees Otters respond at the Aud
Erie 7 at Kitchener 4 – Series tied 1-1

• Tied at three entering the third period, Erie scored four times in the final frame to beat the Rangers 7-4
• Sam Alfano’s second of the game was the deciding marker; he was the game’s first star with two goals and an assist
• Pano Fimis had a goal and an assist while other Erie markers came from Malcolm Spence, Carey Terrance, Kaleb Smith and Dylan Edwards
• Carson Rehkopf scored twice in the loss for Kitchener while Filip Mesar collected three assists
• The Otters won despite missing forwards Brett Bressette, Martin Misiak and Alex Messier from the lineup
• Defenceman Keagan Knight, a seventh-round pick in 2023, made his OHL debut for Erie
• Kitchener outshot Erie 28-25 and went 2-for-6 on the power play to the Otters’ 0-for-5
• Ethan Fraser made 24 saves for the win

Game Centre & Highlights | Erie Post-Game | Kitchener Post-Game

Tonight’s @AHNSportsMed Soundbites! pic.twitter.com/66aRL2Yo7Q

— Erie Otters 🦦 (@ErieOtters) March 31, 2024

Game 1: Ellinas scores twice as Rangers ride to victory
Kitchener 6 vs. Erie 3 – Kitchener leads series 1-0

• Luke Ellinas scored first and second period goals as Kitchener doubled-up Erie to start the series
• Matthew Sop, Eduard Sale, Max Dirracolo and Carson Rehkopf chipped in with goals
• Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar had three assists on the night
• Dylan Edwards scored twice for Erie, being joined on the scoresheet by Sal Alfano
• Anaheim Ducks prospect Carey Terrance saw his first action since Mar. 14th
• Cameron Reid returned to the Kitchener blueline
• Kitchener outshot Erie 32-29
• Jackson Parsons made 26 saves for the win while Erie’s Ethan Fraser stopped 27 in defeat
• Game 1 was played before a crowd of 6,997 at the Aud

Game Centre & Highlights | Kitchener Post-Game | Erie Post-Game

Luke Ellinas gets #RTown rockin' 🎸#KITvsER | 📸 Tiffany Luke pic.twitter.com/DGf11EzLwd

— Ontario Hockey League (@OHLHockey) March 30, 2024

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(4) Kitchener Rangers (41-23-4-0) vs. (5) Erie Otters (33-28-5-2)

Kitchener Series Preview | Erie Series Preview

It’s playoff time, and Ben Gaudreau is in the building.

That’s right Otters fans. Gaudreau, the overage netminder who hasn’t played since Jan. 21st, took the ice for morning skate at the Aud on Friday morning ahead of Game 1 of Erie’s first round series with the Kitchener Rangers.

Morning skate ✅ pic.twitter.com/tdG40WUyRb

— Erie Otters 🦦 (@ErieOtters) March 29, 2024

It remains to be seen if the former seventh overall OHL Draft pick will play on Friday, but there’s a glimmer of hope for an Otters club that has gone through somewhat of a goalie carousel in the second half of the season. Hats off to overage newcomer Ethan Fraser, who has stepped in and helped the Otters secure the fifth spot in the Western Conference with a 6-1-1-2 record, 2.96 goals-against average and .904 save percentage after spending the season with the Lindsay Muskies of the OJHL.

While Otters fans can hope the goaltending scenario is beginning to clear up, there’s another big question mark in first-liner Carey Terrance, who hasn’t played since Mar. 14th as the result of a lower body injury. The Anaheim Ducks first round pick has game-breaking speed, and scored 29 goals in 56 games, following up a 30-goal campaign in 2022-23.

With Terrance’s status up in the air, the Otters will rely on a few other names including 2025 NHL Draft prospect Malcolm Spence who put up 62 points (19-43–62) in his sophomore season along with top scorer Pano Fimis (25-51–76), a former second overall OHL Draft pick in 2020. Big winger Sam Alfano took big strides in his development under head coach Stan Butler this season, finishing with 27 goals and 60 points. Don’t forget Erie’s Slovak connection, with Ondrej Molnar (19-33–52) and Chicago Blackhawks second-rounder Martin Misiak (23-24–47) knowing where to find each other. Feel-good story Dylan Edwards has also given Erie an offensive option with 22 goals over 38 games.

The Rangers, by comparison, have considerably more fire-power with 52-goal scorer and Canadian World Junior representative Carson Rehkopf leading the attack. Hometown overage product Matthew Sop is a fan favourite at the Aud and for good reason, finishing his final OHL season with 90 points (43-47–90). Montreal Canadiens first round pick Filip Mesar (19-33–52) has shown he can be a game-breaker in the OHL while the Rangers have no shortage of supporting shooters in Adrian Misaljevic (23-35–58), Seattle Kraken first rounder Eduard Sale (15-23–38) and energetic winger Luke Ellinas (16-17–33). Kitchener will have 6-foot-6 winger Trent Swick (25-37–62) back for Game 4 of the series as he serves the remainder of a five-game suspension. Overage winger Mitchell Martin (10-8–18) appears to be sidelined by injury once again. Martin missed close to four months to injury this season, managed to return to the lineup for five games but hasn’t appeared in a game since Mar. 9th.

Hunter Brzustewicz can dictate the pace of the game from the back end, and might just be Kitchener’s biggest weapon in this series. The Calgary Flames prospect tied a Rangers franchise record for defencemen this season, finishing with 92 points (13-79–92) over 67 games. Hard-hitting defence partner Matthew Andonovski (7-25–32) also brings a presence to this series. He has the unique distinction of finishing in the OHL’s top-three for both plus/minus (+58) and penalty minutes (124) in 2023-24.

Erie has some big question marks. Kitchener didn’t have the greatest finish to the regular season with four straight losses. Three of the meetings between these two teams this season went to overtime. How does that all shake down? Let’s drop the puck tonight and find out!

See Kitchener and Erie go head-to-head in an intriguing 4 vs. 5 matchup on OHL Live.

Morning prep ✔️ #TitleWave | #RTown pic.twitter.com/mSNw9AChX5

— Kitchener Rangers (@OHLRangers) March 29, 2024

Series Schedule:
Game 1: Fri., March 29 – Erie at Kitchener, 7:00pm
Game 2: Sun., March 31 – Erie at Kitchener, 2:00pm
Game 3: Tues., April 2 – Kitchener at Erie, 7:00pm
Game 4: Thurs., April 4 – Kitchener at Erie, 7:00pm
Game 5: Fri., April 5 – Erie at Kitchener, 7:00pm*
Game 6: Tues., April 9 – Kitchener at Erie, 7:00pm*
Game 7: Wed., April 10 – Erie at Kitchener, 8:00pm*

Season Series:
Kitchener wins 4-2
Oct. 27 – ER 4 at KIT 5 (OT)
Nov. 21 – ER 3 at KIT 10
Nov. 29 – KIT 5 at ER 4 (OT)
Jan. 12 – ER 2 at KIT 6
Feb. 3 – KIT 1 at ER 6
Mar. 23 – KIT 3 at ER 4 (OT)

Playoff History:
This marks the second time that Kitchener and Erie have met in the OHL Playoffs
– 2005 KIT def. ER 4-2 – 1st Round