Match-up preview: Rangers vs Attack
Top spot in the Mid-western division is up for grabs tonight as the Kitchener Rangers take on the Owen Sound Attack in a battle for mid-west dominance.
The Rangers and Attack are neck-in-neck in standings.
Both have a 6-1-0-0 record and the BMO Mastercard Top 10 CHL rankings the Attack are ranked ninth overall, while the Rangers are tenth.
It was a competitive Owen Sound squad that handed Kitchener their only loss of the season. On the road the Attack shut out the Rangers by a score of 4-0.
Owen Sound has thus far had their best season start in tranchise history, earning ten points in six games. They are also first in the league in goals against.
In the Attack's first trip to The Aud, the Rangers will have the advantage over their opponent with the beneficial home-ice.
Goaltending will be one of the key elements in tonight's game - it not the most crucial.
Owen Sound's number one Scott Stajcer will be going up against Kitchener's Brandon Maxwell.
Stajcer has an impressive resume. He leads the league in goals against average, save percentage, and wins. He has won all five games he's started, has a mere eight goals against, a .952 save percentage, and an impressive 1.6 goals against average. The fifth round pick of the New York Rangers played a key role in the shut out against Kitchener.
Also a native of Cambridge, ON. Stajcer played minor hockey growing up with Rangers' net-minder Brandon Maxwell. The two are now rival goaltenders, both amonast the top ten in the league.
In five games Maxwell, the Colorado Avalanche prospect, has four wins, 16 goals against, a .911 save percentage, and 3.57 goals against average.
Maxwell's sights tonight will be set on out performing his childhood friend and blanking his opponent on home turf - just as Stajcer did earlier this season.
Kitchener's point leader remains untouched - blueliner Ryan Murphy remains on top with sixteen points. Rookie Matia Marcantuoni netted his first pair of goals last week and looks to expand on that.
Joey Hishon will be the offensive threat for Owen Sound. The Stratford, Ont. native is expected to make his return this weekend, although it has not been confirmed during which game that will be.
Hishon was drafted 17th overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft and remained with the Colorado Avalanche until the end of September when he broke his hand.
The Rangers look to expand on their three-game winning streak, and maintain their position at the top of the mid-west tonight.
