OHL Kitchener Rangers

Kitchener Hosts London Tuesday at the Aud

Published on January 17, 2023 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


Kitchener, Ont. - Fresh off a victory Sunday in Saginaw, the Kitchener Rangers will turn their focus to their Midwest Division rivals, the London Knights. Tuesday's matchup is the second of six meetings between these two clubs with Kitchener trying to even up the season series at one. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium and great seats are still available here.

Notable Links:

Tickets: Buy Online | (519) 578-1570

TV: Rogers TV, cable 20 (Kitchener)

TV: Rogers TV, cable 13 (London)

TV: Super Sports Pack, cable 466 (Ontario)

Video Stream: OHL Live on CHL TV

Radio: CityNews 570 AM CKGL

Ranger Milestones:

A trio of Rangers reached milestone marks in their OHL careers over the weekend. Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) recorded his 100th career point in the OHL with a goal against Saginaw on Sunday evening. Danny scored Kitchener's third goal of the game which at the time gave them their second lead of the game and they wouldn't look back from there.

A pair of Rangers suited up for their 100th career regular season game. Carson Rehkopf and Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lighting) reached the milestone together and both dressed for all 100 games in the jersey of the East Avenue Blue.

Head-to-Head:

London has certainly had Kitchener's number in this rivalry over the last three seasons. In 23 matchups Kitchener's record is 6-17-0-0 and 3-9-0-0 record at The Aud. However, it has not all been bad as of late in R-Town as Kitchener defeated the London Knights in round 1 of the 2022 OHL playoffs. Kitchener as the seven seed overcame a 3-2 series deficit winning 5-3 at The Aud and 4-3 in overtime in London to move onto the second round.

This is the second of six matchups between these two bitter rivals. Last season was Kitchener's best showing against London as well going 4-6-0-0 overall and 2-3-0-0 at The Aud. Kitchener lost the first three matchups at home but finished the year strong winning the last two. Kitchener lost the first meeting between these clubs back on November 25th by a score of 4-0.

Kitchener improved their power-play percentage in their last game against Saginaw scoring two power-play goals on five opportunities. Kitchener now ranks fifth overall in league power-play percentage at 23.7% and an even better record on home ice at 26.3%. London owned the league's third best power-play percentage when these teams met earlier this year, but now rank 10th converting on 21.4% of their opportunities. That percentage drops to 17.5% on the road. On the other side of special teams play, Kitchener also has an impressive record ranking fourth in the league killing off penalties at an 80.8% clip. London enters play with a similar penalty kill record with an 80.1% success rate and even better 81.7% on the road.

Kitchener most recently snapped a seven-game slide getting back in the win column against the Spirit in Saginaw. A 4-3 victory in regulation earned Kitchener their first win of 2023. The Rangers are now 3-5-2-0 in their last ten games. London has dropped their last three games. Prior to that the Knights were on a nine-game win streak. In their last 10 games they have a 7-3-0-0 record.

Scouting the Rangers:

Hunter Brzustewicz recorded another two power-play assists in Kitchener's win over Saginaw giving him 17. That is good for the third highest total tied with another player. Hunter is 15th amongst all skaters in the league for assists with 29 and fourth amongst all defencemen. His 32 points (3G 29A) is good for 7th most points by a defenceman in the league.

Marcus Vandenberg has stepped up in a big way via the backup goaltender role ranking 6th in save percentage at 0.913 through 12 games this season and has a sub three goals against average at 2.87. His efforts on Sunday evening helped earn Kitchener a victory making 33 stops on 36 shots.

The offence continues to be driven by the efforts of Carson Rehkopf and Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars). Carson and Francesco share the second highest tally in power-play goals with 13 and Francesco is third in goals this season with 27. Francesco has the lead in points in the Ranger roster with 46 points (27G 19A) in 39 games this season.

Mitchell Martin scored his first goal for Kitchener since his return from a wrist injury suffered earlier in the year. Mitchell now has 16 points (8G 8A) through 15 games this season. He joins Francesco Arcuri, Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings), and Danny Zhilkin (Winnipeg Jets) as the six Rangers skaters averaging a point or more per game this season.

Francesco Arcuri (Dallas Stars), Tomáš Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings), Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Danny Zhilkin are six Kitchener skaters that are both drafted, and signed, by their NHL clubs respectively.

Scouting the Knights:

The Knights are led by Sean McGurn who has totalled 48 points (17G 31A) in 38 games this season. His 48 points is the ninth highest total in the league by all skaters this season. Teammate George Diaco is right behind him with 46 points (18G 28A) through 37 games.

London has two defencemen tied with 26 points helping to generate offence for the Knights. Logan Mailloux (Montréal Canadiens) with 12 goals and 14 assists and Oliver Bonk with 9 goals and 17 assists. Logan has the fourth highest total for goals by defencemen on the year

Goaltender Brett Brochu is putting together another great season for the London Knights. Brett ranks 4th amongst all goalies with 2.76 goals against average and a 0.903 save percentage on the year. He also has the third most wins by a goalie this year with 18 in 29 games played.

Jackson Edward (BOS), Isaiah George (NYI), Logan Mailloux (MTL), Max McCue (SJ), Landon Sim (STL), and Ryan Winterton (SEA) are the six Saginaw skaters that are drafted by their NHL clubs respectively.

Broadcast Coverage:

Friday night's contest will be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20, as well as throughout London on Rogers TV, cable channel 13, and can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pack on channel 466 for cable subscribers. Jason Hagholm (play-by-play), Dan Polischuk (colour commentary) and Sean Furfaro (host) will call the game on television.

The game will be streamed live online in a web browser at OHLLive.com, and on the CHL App for mobile devices including smart TV's such as including Apple TV, Roku and Amazon Fire.

Additionally, fans can listen to the game on the radio on CityNews 570 AM CKGL. Mike Farwell (play-by-play) and Chris Pope (colour commentary) will call the game on the radio. Fans can tune in to the radio pregame show 30 minutes prior to puck drop and can be a part of the broadcast with extended postgame shows as Farwell takes phone calls from Rangers Nation after all home games at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. Fans can call 519-570-2545 during the radio postgame shows to talk Rangers Hockey.

For more information on Kitchener Rangers broadcast coverage, click here.

Next Up:

The Rangers will play their final game before the Christmas Break on the road this Sunday against the Steelheads in Mississauga at 2 p.m. The East Avenue Blue will host the Peterborough Petes in their next home game at The Aud on Friday, December 30th.

Check out the Kitchener Rangers Statistics

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 17, 2023


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