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OHL Kitchener Rangers

MacInnis Scores Twice on the Power Play as Rangers Defeat Storm 4-1

February 26, 2016 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


Ryan MacInnis of the Kitchener Rangers
Ryan MacInnis of the Kitchener Rangers
(Kitchener Rangers)

Ryan MacInnis registered a pair of power play goals and Jeremy Bracco made a statement in his return to the Rangers line-up by contributing a three-point night, as the Kitchener Rangers defeated the Guelph Storm 4-1 in front of 4,827 fans at the Sleeman Centre on Friday night.

It was a rare Friday night away from the Aud for the Rangers (40-12-5-1) who made it count, earning their 40th win of the season and a valuable two points in their pursuit to climb the Western Conference standings.

Bracco didn't waste any time in his return from a five-game suspension, as the almost point-and-a-half-per-game player banked a goal and two assists to hand the Storm (12-39-4-2) their 18th regulation loss of the season on home ice.

"I think I played well, and I attribute that to the guys I play with," said Bracco. "It was a great team effort to get the two points."

The Kitchener win, paired with a London Knights loss to the Kingston Frontenacs, leaves the Rangers (86) trailing the Knights (87) by just one point for third place in the Western Conference standings.

"I think we did a good job of trying to block out any distractions and just focused on getting two points," added Bracco. "We were able to do that, and we gained ground. We're within striking distance and it should make for a great game when we meet the Knights next week."

As opposed to how the final score would reflect, it was a close-knit affair between the Rangers and Storm which saw the Blueshirts down a goal early but take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission. The score would remain unchanged until just 1:05 to play when MacInnis scored his second power play goal of the evening to give the Rangers a two-goal lead, 3-1. Nick Magyar would then pot an empty net goal with a second left on the clock to wrap up the 4-1 win.

Heading into Friday night, many wondered what the tone of the game would be, as the last meeting between the two clubs on Tuesday at the Aud was fodder for questionable calls, high emotion and plenty of bad blood between the already contentious Highway 7 rivals.

The game saw its fair share of exhibited displeasure between players from both sides, but ultimately, the Rangers were able to avoid letting emotions take over, and skated away with an important win.

"This rink is never easy to play in," said Rangers head coach Mike Van Ryn, post-game. "They played us hard right to the end tonight, but [Dawson] Carty was solid and gave us the stops we needed.

"Our power play was good for us tonight, and having Bracco back in the lineup was great, he contributed for us right away.

"There were lots of bright spots for us tonight. I was happy to see our youth playing well for us. It was a pretty good all-around game."

As Van Ryn alluded to, Carty was impressive, stopping all but one of the 33 shots he faced en route to his 12th win of the season (12-1-1-0). After the game the netminder was modest in his performance, but was his cool, collected self when asked about the mindset of he and his teammates.

"I didn't like the first [Storm goal], but after that I thought I settled in and played pretty well.

"We're a confident group, and we believe in ourselves," Carty said. "We know how tough this conference and this division is, but we're comfortable and confident in knowing we can win games."

Michael Giugovaz took the loss in goal for the Storm, surrendering three goals on 33 shots while seeing his record dip to 14-14-5-2 on the season.

In the first period it was the Storm who would take a 1-0 lead on a goal by Liam Stevens, from Givani Smith, at 3:28.

The Rangers would answer back when MacInnis tallied his 35th goal of the season on the power play, assisted by Adam Mascherin and Bracco, at 16:50 to make it a 1-1 game.

Bracco would tally his second point of the night with his 18th goal of the season as time wound down, giving the Rangers a 2-1 lead from Connor Hall and Connor Bunnaman with just 26 second left in the frame at 19:34.

The Rangers led the Storm 16-12 in shots after one period of play.

After a scoreless second period which saw the Storm outshoot the Rangers 12-8 for a two-period total of 24-24, the visitors would take a two-goal lead on the stick of their captain as MacInnis tallied his 36th of the season, again on the powerplay, from Hall and Bracco at 18:55. It marked the first multi-point game for Hall in his OHL career.

Magyar added to the Rangers late lead with just a second remaining on the clock into an empty net to make it 4-1, from Dmitrii Sergeev, effectively extending his personal point-scoring streak to six games (2G, 4A).

Final shots would read 34-33 in favour of Kitchener.

The Rangers finished 2-for-4 on the power play, while the Storm were held scoreless on four opportunities with the man advantage.

Noah Carroll (3), MacInnis (2) and Bracco (1) were chosen as the Three Stars of the Game.

Darby Llewellyn, Gustaf Franzen and Brandon Robinson each wore 'A's and skated as alternates to captain Ryan MacInnis.

The Rangers are back in action tomorrow, Saturday, February 27th, when they make their lone visit to the General Motors Centre to face the Oshawa Generals for a 2:05pm puck drop.

Tickets for the Rangers next home game, or any other future Rangers home games are available online at kitchenerrangers.com, by calling Centre in the Square, or through The Aud Box Office.

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Ryan MacInnis of the Kitchener Rangers
Ryan MacInnis of the Kitchener Rangers
   



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2016


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