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Rangers Win Two Of Three
Rangers Win Over Saginaw Spirit
Kitchener, ONTARIO: The Rangers (21-11-2-2) opened up the first of three-straight games this weekend with a win over the Saginaw Spirit (21-11-2-2), 4-2.
Greg Meireles, the game’s first star, led the way with two goals while Jacob Ingham stopped 33 and earned third star honours.
Graham Dickerson scored his first of the season and Jonathan Yantsis added his 24th of the season in the win.
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The first period saw a number of chances for both teams, including breakaways for either side. However, Jacob Ingham and Marshall Frappier remained perfect saving 14 and 9 shots respectively to keep the game scoreless after 20 minutes of play.
Kitchener broke the deadlock at 7:33 of the second period when a pass from Arber Xhekaj across the blueline to Graham Dickerson (1) led to the left-winger getting a partial break to the net before wristing it past Frappier to make it 1-0.
Saginaw evened up the score at 14:07 when an outside shot by Ilya Solovyov was tipped by Josh Bloom (3) past the outstretched skate of Ingham to make it 1-1.
Shortly after, at 15:48, a quick cross-crease pass by Cole Perfetti was finished by Damien Giroux (23) to give the Spirit the lead, 2-1.
As the period wound down, the Rangers were on a powerplay after DK King took a four-minute high-sticking penalty. With 13-seconds remaining, Greg Meireles (15) threaded the needle on a shot from the side of Frappier’s net to tie the game, 2-2.
Shots after 40 minutes were 27-20 in favour of the Spirit.
At 1:51, a pass up the ice by Ingham to Jonathan Yantsis led to an incredible solo effort by the Rangers leading goalscorer to net his 24th of the season and make it 3-2.
Meireles (16) would add another at 14:59 after a slight hesitation on a wrist shot that fooled Frappier just enough to fire it past the Spirit netminder. It was 4-2.
The final shots on goal were 35-31 for the Spirit.
Icedogs Defeat Rangers In Overtime
St. Catharines, ONTARIO: The IceDogs (15-15-4-1) and Rangers (21-11-3-2) played a wild game on Saturday night that eventually led to the IceDogs winning 7-6 in overtime.
Jonathan Yantsis scored a hat trick, Greg Meireles scored a goal and two assists, and Riley Damiani earned three assists in the loss.
Lucas Pfeil saved 17 shots.
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Niagara opened up the scoring at 4:18 of the first period. A Rangers turnover in their own end led to Oliver Castleman, from behind Lucas Pfeil’s net, passing into the slot to Philip Tomasino (21) who made no mistake on the opportunity to give the IceDogs the lead and it was 1-0.
At 6:39 and 6:59, the Rangers took two penalties. The first one was to Graham Dickerson for holding, and the second was to Donovan Sebrango for delay of game.
On the two-man-advantage, Adrien Beraldo (4) took a wrist shot from inside the faceoff circle through traffic and past Pfeil to extend the IceDogs lead to 2-0.
Jackson Doherty (2) extended Niagara’s lead at 9:41 when more sustained pressure deep in the Rangers end led to an opportunity in the middle of the ice and the left-winger buried it to make it 3-0.
At 14:41, Beraldo took two penalties — one for holding and one for unsportsmanlike conduct — and on the ensuing powerplay, Liam Hawel found Jonathan Yantsis (25) down low. The Rangers leading goalscorer tipped in the pass to get the Rangers on the board. It was 3-1 at 16:25.
Axel Bergkvist also earned an assist on the powerplay goal.
Shortly after, at 17:01, a very similar play led to Riley Damiani finding Yantsis (26) down low for his second put-in of the night and just like that it was 3-2.
The second assist on the goal was awarded to Greg Meireles.
As time was winding down in the period, another man-advantage for the Rangers led to Meireles (17) firing a shot from above the faceoff circle and past Josh Rosenzweig to tie it up, 3-3.
Bergkvist and Damani picked up more assists on Meireles’ seventh goal in five games.
After a wild first period that featured three powerplay goals for the Rangers, the IceDogs led in shots 12-10.
The Rangers took their first lead of the game at 10:41 when none other than Yantsis (27) tipped in a shot by Justin MacPherson to make it 4-3.
The second assist on the goal was by Simon Motew.
Kitchener extended their lead at 15:48 on a bar-down shot from Reid Valade (12) on an assist by Michael Vukojevic, and it was 5-3.
At 17:20, Ethan Sims scored a goal for Niagara. It was their first shot of the period and brought the IceDogs back within one, 5-4.
After 20 minutes, the Rangers led the IceDogs in shots, 26-14.
Niagara tied the game up at 11:29 when a cross-ice pass by Ivan Lodnia was one-timed by Dakota Betts past Pfeil to make it 5-5.
The IceDogs retook the lead at 12:53 when Tomasino came streaking down Niagara’s offensive boards and went farside and high on Pfeil. 6-5.
With just 27 seconds left in the third period, on the powerplay and with Pfeil out of his net, Liam Hawel unloaded a shot from the side of the IceDogs net and scored to tie it up, 6-6.
In overtime, a neutral ice turnover led to Lodnia scoring on a second chance opportunity to give the IceDogs the win.
Final shots on goal were 26-24 in favour of the Rangers.
The next Rangers home game is on Friday, January 10 versus the Niagara IceDogs at 7:30 pm.
Rangers Calm The Storm
Guelph, ONTARIO : In the Rangers (22-11-3-2) third game in the past three days, they defeated their Midwest Division rival, the Storm (22-10-1-4), 2-1, on the back of a 40 save performance by Jacob Ingham.
Mike Petizian scored his seventh of the season, while Francesco Pinelli netted his 12th. Liam Hawel picked up two assists in the win.
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It didn’t take long for the Rangers to get on the board. At 1:17 of the first period, a pass into the faceoff circle by Liam Hawel found Mike Petizian (7) who wired one past Owen Bennett to make it 1-0.
The period didn’t feature any more scoring despite the Storm taking three penalties in the first 20 minutes of play.
Kitchener outshot Guelph by 10, 18-8.
At 14:49 of the second period, Michael Vukojevic took a checking to the head penalty on a hit on Pavel Gogolev.
While on the powerplay, Gogolev passed to Keegan Stevenson (15) who uncorked a shot past Jacob Ingham on Guelph’s 14th shot of the period. That made it 1-1.
The second period would end with the Storm ahead in shots 28-26.
At 1:41 of the third period, one a three-on-one break into Guelph’s end, Hawel passed cross-ice to Francesco Pinelli (12) who went bar and in to retake the lead for the Rangers, 2-1.
Despite heavily outshooting the Rangers in the final two frames, the Storm couldn’t find a way to beat Ingham again and the Rangers would end up winning by a goal.
Final shots on goal were 41-32.
The next Rangers home game is on Friday, January 10 versus the Niagara IceDogs at 7:30 pm. The next road game for the Rangers is on Saturday, January 11 at 7:30 pm versus the Barrie Colts.
