Kitchener Closes out Three-In-Three Weekend with 3-2 Win over Guelph

December 10, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release

The third installment of the battle of Highway 7 resulted in a 3-2 Kitchener win bringing the season series to two wins for Kitchener and one for Guelph. The Rangers entered the game missing forwards Carson Rehkopf and Filip Mesar as they departed for their respective World Junior camps while Guelph was missing defender Michael Buchinger. With the defeat Guelph has lost four straight games, dating back to December 5th in Kitchener. The Rangers took five of six possible points in their three games in three nights weekend.

Some milestones were reached in the evening affair; Hunter Brzustewicz played in his 100th career OHL game and Cameron Arquette made his OHL debut and registered his first career point. Streaks were extended in the game by Trent Swick and Matthew Sop. Swick's point streak moved to three games and Sop's was extended to nine. Sop was the only Ranger to record more than one point as he scored and tallied an assist.

Scoring Summary:

1st Period

GUE 0, KIT 1

12:02 Adrian Misaljevic (18) - Trent Swick

Trent Swick was instrumental in Adrian Misaljevic's game-opening goal. Swick possessed the puck as the Rangers entered the zone two-on-two. Both defenders charged towards Swick allowing him a clean passing lane between them, where he sent a feed right onto Misaljevic's stick. He cut across the crease and tucked it in behind Brayden Gillespie giving Kitchener the lead.

GUE 0, KIT 2

15:08 Matthew Sop (21) - Cameron Arquette, Matthew Andonovski

Matthew Andonovski started a series of events with a shot from the point that led Kitchener to go up by two. Andonovski's shot was tipped down by Cameron Arquette and the puck knuckled onto the stick of Matthew Sop. Sop scored one of the easiest goals of his career as he put it directly into the open net as Brayden Gillespie was unable to regain position after the deflection.

GUE 1, KIT 2

17:06 Leo Serlin (8) - Jett Luchanko, Vilmer Alriksson

Vilmer Alriksson held the puck in the Rangers' zone as he centered a pass to Jett Luchanko. Luchanko missed the net, but the puck rocketed hard back out front to the slot where Leo Serlin found it and put it behind Jackson Parsons, cutting the lead to one.

GUE 1, KIT 3

19:52 Luke Ellinas (4) - Luca Romano, Luke Ellinas - PPG

A Kitchener powerplay due to a Leo Serlin slashing penalty allowed Luke Ellinas to re-establish Kitchener's two-goal lead. Cameron Reid possessed the puck atop the zone and sent it down to Luca Romano. Romano sent the puck across the ice to Ellinas, who took a second to pick a spot and fired it home, as three rookies connected for the powerplay goal.

3rd Period

GUE 2, KIT 3

18:11 Braeden Bowman (7) - Jett Luchanko, Jake Karabela

With 2:02 remaining in the third period, Guelph was given a five-on-three powerplay for 59 seconds as Matthew Sop and Matthew Andonovski each took penalties. The Storm pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker to make it six on three. Just 13 seconds later Braeden Bowman scored. Jett Luchanko received the puck in the corner and came up halfway through the Rangers' zone. He sent the puck to the slot and Bowman shot through a screened Parsons making it a one goal game.

The Stars:

First Star: Matthew Andonovski (1A)

Second Star: Jett Luchanko (2A)

Third Star: Adrian Misaljevic (1G)

The Goalies:

Brayden Gillespie made 21 saves while conceding three goals in the loss, his record moves to 12-9-1-1 (W-L-OTL-SOL) on the year. Jackson Parsons made 22 of 24 possible saves in the contest, with the win his record moves to 16-5-1-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) on the season.

The Numbers Game:

Shots: GUE 24, KIT 24

Powerplay: GUE 1-4, KIT 1-4

FO%: GUE 63.8%, KIT 36.2%

Up Next: Kitchener will rest after playing three games in three days before playing their last two games before the Holiday break on Friday and Saturday. The Rangers' last home game will be played Friday at 7 pm as they take on the OHL's second-place team the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The top two teams played each other on November 12th and resulted in a 5-3 victory for the Rangers. Tickets for all Rangers home games can be purchased at The Aud Box Office sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online.

Kitchener Rangers react following a goal (Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers)

Ontario Hockey League Stories from December 10, 2023

• Kitchener Closes out Three-In-Three Weekend with 3-2 Win over Guelph - Kitchener Rangers
• Spitfires Double up Firebirds 6-3 - Windsor Spitfires
• Peer, Spitfires, Take out Firebirds in Windsor, 6-3 - Flint Firebirds
• Pagé Scores as Petes Fall 2-1 to 67's at PMC - Peterborough Petes
• Firebirds Head to Windsor for a Sunday Matinee - Flint Firebirds
• Mangone Becomes Highest-Scoring U18 Draftee - Saginaw Spirit
• Kitchener Travels to Guelph for Third Installment of the Battle of Highway 7 - Kitchener Rangers

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