Match-up preview: Kitchener Rangers vs Sarnia Sting
It was a heartbreaking shootout loss on Sunday that ended the Kitchener Rangers’ eight-game winning streak.
Ottawa forward Tyler Toffoli dropped to his knee and slid across the ice into a welcoming group of Frontenac players after scoring the game winning shootout goal. This was Toffoli’s third of the game, and enough to secure the 5-4 win.
His linemate, Shane Prince, netted the additional shootout goal past Rangers’ netminder Mike Morrison. Jason Akeson and Michael Catenacci were both denied by Petr Mrazek who had a superb game in net for the Fronts.
Mrazek stopped 43 of 47 shots faced; while Morrison faced 24 and stopped 20.
Gabriel Landeskog earned first star of the game for the Rangers, and the captain proved exactly why his leadership both on and off the ice has allowed him to fill this role. Landeskog, who celebrated his 18th birthday this week, was responsible for tying the game at both the end of the second and third periods to keep his team alive.
Unfortunately his efforts fell short, and the Rangers dropped to 16-5-0-1 for the season.
The blue shirts maintain their third place standing in the Western Conference, below the Saginaw Spirit and the Owen Sound Attack. The Rangers’ 0.750 win percentage is good for second overall in the league, however.
Tonight’s opponent – the Sarnia Sting – are just above .500, with an overall record of 11-10-3-0. This puts them at the lower end of the Western Conference, seventh overall of ten teams.
The Sting travel to The Aud for the first time this season with a 4-5-3-0 record on the road. At home, Kitchener is 10-2-0-1. At this rate, that means there’s a 77% chance you’ll see the Rangers win on home ice.
The Sting’s last game was Wednesday in Owen Sound, where they upset the Attack in a shootout decider. Alex Galchenyuk scored the deciding goal for the Sting in their 4-3 victory. This was the same situation for Galchenyuk, who two weeks prior, scored the game winner in another shootout win over the Belleville Bulls.
Currently for the Sting, Russian-born rookie Nail Yakupov leads the team with 37 points – 18 goals and 19 assists. In his fourth year in the league, Kale Kerbashian also had 37 points this season – 15 goals and 22 assists.
This week the Rangers are ranked 10th in the CHL Top 10 Rankings. Following tonight’s home game the team will hit the road to Erie tomorrow to face the Otters, before playing host to them again next Friday.
