OHL Kitchener Rangers

Kitchener Survives Late Push from Erie in 5-4 OT Win

Published on October 28, 2023 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


Kitchener Rangers' Filip Mesar and Erie Otters' Alexis Daviault in action
Kitchener Rangers' Filip Mesar and Erie Otters' Alexis Daviault in action
(Kitchener Rangers, Credit: Tiffany Luke/Kitchener Rangers)

Kitchener, ON - The Rangers won their first overtime game of the year 5-4 over Erie. Kitchener held down the Otters despite a late push as Erie scored two goals in the last two minutes to tie the game. Matthew Sop was the overtime hero, Carson Rehkopf recorded two goals and Filip Mesar had two assists in his return to the Rangers.

Kitchener entered the game tonight leading the OHL in many different categories including the top four OHL scorers; Rehkopf, Hunter Brzustewicz, Adrian Misaljevic and Sop. Rehkopf and Misaljevic are first and second in goals scored in the OHL and Rehkopf also leads the league in game-winning goals with three. Matthew Andonovski entered the night leading the league in +/- at +20, Misaljevic, Brzustewicz, and Rehkopf follow behind him to make up the top four in the OHL +/-.

Rehkopf kept his goal streak going early, extending it to seven games less than 10 minutes into the period. The goal was scored on the powerplay from the left faceoff circle. Rehkopf demonstrated his laser of a shot and quick release to put the puck behind the goalie before he could react. The goal was assisted by Sop and Brzustewicz, both extending their point streaks to seven and eleven games respectively. The goal also extends Rehkopf's point streak to eight games and his goal-scoring streak to seven games.

A nice passing play with the man advantage put the Rangers up two as Mitchell Martin scored his sixth goal of the year. Cameron Reid got the play going from the point and found Tanner Lam on the goal line. From here Lam passed it to Martin in front of the net who buried it.

With just under two minutes to go in the first period, Tristan Malboeuf made a wonderful save, however, the puck was rolling behind him until Andonovski came and saved the puck off the goal line to keep the score at 2-0. The period ended with the score still 2-0 and Kitchener led shots 16-6 after one period of play. The Rangers were perfect on their special teams in the period going 2/2 on both the powerplay and penalty kill.

Rehkopf shot home his second goal of the night 8:17 into the second period to score the Rangers' third unanswered goal. Trent Swick passed Rehkopf the puck to record the only assist on the goal. Rehkopf took the pass walked across the zone and lasered it past Jacob Gibbons' ears.

Erie responded 1:21 later as Carey Terrance scored on a great effort from Malcolm Spence. Spence stick-handled from the point down to the slot and fed a slick pass to Terrance. A secondary assist was awarded to Sam Alfano on the goal; 3-1 Kitchener.

The Otters outshot the Rangers 7-5 in the second period. However, Kitchener was still ahead in shots 21-13 after two periods of play. The Rangers led 3-1 entering the third.

Erie brought the game within one as Nathan Sauder walked in from the point and scored his first goal of the season. The goal was scored with 14:11 remaining in the third and was assisted by Ondrej Molnar and Martin Misiak.

Erie went on the powerplay with 9:25 to go in the third period, as Brzustewicz took a delay of game penalty for shooting a puck over the glass in the defensive zone. Kitchener was successful on the kill, not giving up any shots.

Reid scored his first career OHL goal to give the Rangers what they thought was an insurance goal with 5:48 to go in the game. Reid took a seemingly harmless wrist shot from the point that snuck through traffic and into the net. This goal was assisted by Brzustewicz and Mesar in his highly anticipated first game back from the Laval Rocket.

Erie brought the game back within one as they scored with an extra attacker with 1:40 to go. The Otters brought the puck in on transition and Spence scored short side on Malboeuf to bring the score to 4-3. The assists went to Alexis Daviault and Terrance.

The Otters called a timeout following the goal and sent their top line out again. Erie would maintain pressure for much of the time and eventually found the net with 17 seconds to go. Ondrej Molnar made a cross-ice pass deep in the zone to Misiak, who one-timed it in to tie the game at four.

Three periods of play would not be enough, and the Rangers played in their first three-on-three overtime period of the season. After three periods the shots were 28-24 in favour of the Rangers.

Sop was the hometown hero potting the winner only 1:26 into overtime. Mesar recovered the puck in the defensive zone and broke out into a two-on-one with Sop. Mesar recorded his second point in his return on a perfectly placed pass that Sop put past a sprawling Gibbons.

The Rangers were perfect in special teams going 2/2 on the powerplay and 4/4 on the penalty kill. The first star of the game was Sop. Second star honours went to Misiak from the Otters who had the game-tying goal to go with an assist. Third star of the game went to Reid who scored his first career OHL goal. Malboeuf moved up to four wins and no losses on the season making 22 of 26 saves. In the other end Gibbons made 24 of 29 saves in the overtime loss.

Up Next: Kitchener has a string of road games including a trip to Owen Sound tomorrow and a Thursday night game in Windsor before returning home next Friday, to take on the North Bay Battalion. Tickets for all Rangers home games can be purchased at the box office at The Aud sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online.

Check out the Kitchener Rangers Statistics

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Images from this story

Kitchener Rangers' Filip Mesar and Erie Otters' Alexis Daviault in action
Kitchener Rangers' Filip Mesar and Erie Otters' Alexis Daviault in action
(Tiffany Luke/Kitchener Rangers)		   



Ontario Hockey League Stories from October 28, 2023


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