OHL Kitchener Rangers

Preview: Kitchener and London Face-Off Friday at the Aud

November 24, 2022 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


Kitchener, Ont. - The Kitchener Rangers are back on home-ice Friday night for the first match-up against the London Knights this season. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at The Aud.

Ticket Information:

Tickets to Rangers' home games are $21 for children and $25 for adults and can be purchased online now. Additionally, fans can purchase tickets via the phone by calling the Centre In The Square Box Office at (519) 578-1570. Tickets can also be purchased in person at the Activa Box Office at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium at 400 East Ave. Kitchener, ON N2H 1Z6 or at the Centre In The Square Box Office at 101 Queen St N, Kitchener, ON N2H 6P7.

Head-to-Head:

London has certainly had Kitchener's number in this rivalry over the last three seasons. In 22 matchups Kitchener's record is 6-16-0-0 and 3-8-0-0 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 first 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.

London enters play as the league's third hottest power-play converting at 26.6% overall. That percentage drops to 25.7% on the road, but it still good for the fourth best road power-play. Kitchener counters with the leagues 11th best penalty kill on home ice killing 80.6% of their infractions. London trails only the Saginaw Spirit in penalty killing on the road killing off penalties 86.8% of the time. Kitchener will try to break down the strong penalty kill of London as they have been able to convert on 24.4% of power-plays they earn at The Aud.

London is riding a two-game winning streak and is 7-3-0-0 in their last 10 games. Kitchener has hiccupped a bit dropping to 4-6-0-0 in their last 10 games riding the opposite two-game losing streak. One streak will reach three after tonight's game, let's hope it's not the Blueshirts.

London surrendered a one-goal third period lead Sunday but were able to come away with a shootout win. Ryan Del Monte scoring in the fourth round to extend the shootout. Brett Brochu then making a stop allowing Oliver Bonk to scoring the winning shootout goal. Kitchener dropped their meeting with the Western Conference Champions from a season ago, the Windsor Spitfires on Sunday 8-4. A tough first period in which Windsor scored four times which was too much of a hill to climb for Kitchener.

Scouting the Rangers:

The Rangers will be without their points leader and captain, Francesco Pinelli, who is serving the first of a three-game suspension for a cross-check Sunday evening in a loss to Windsor.

Filip Mešár will need to step-up offensively in the absence of Francesco Pinelli. Filip owns the second highest points per game tally since joining the Rangers with 1.17 points per game record. In 12 games Filip has 14 points (6G, 8A).

Some offence can also come through the likes of Carson Rehkopf who enters play tied with London's George Diaco for 6th in the OHL lead for power-play goals with six-a-piece.

Kitchener is in a three-way tie to lead all OHL teams for having the most first-time draft eligible skaters for the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft that will be held in Nashville this June 28-29. Matthew Andonovski, Hunter Brzustewicz, Cameron Mercer, Kyle Morey, Jackson Parsons, Carson Rehkopf, Blair Scott, and Adam Zidlicky are eight first-time skaters eligible for the upcoming NHL Draft, making up 32-percent, or nearly one-third, of the current Rangers' roster.

Hunter Brzustewicz and Carson Rehkopf own 'B' rankings and Matthew Andonovski and Jackson Parsons own 'C' rankings on the NHL Central scouting 2022-2023 Preliminary Players To Watch List

Tomas Hamara (Ottawa Senators), Filip Mešár (Montréal Canadiens), Francesco Pinelli (Los Angeles Kings) and Roman Schmidt (Tampa Bay Lightning) are four Kitchener skaters that are both drafted, and signed, by their NHL clubs respectively.

Scouting the Knights:

Two of last season's top 5 goalies are likely to face-off in tonight's matchup. Marco Costantini of Kitchener owned the league's best goals against average (2.32) and London's Brett Brochu was fourth with a 2.75. Marco also led in save percentage (0.917) with Brett trailing again in the third spot with a 0.911 save percentage.

Sean McGurn has been a strong playmaker for London this season. He is currently riding a 12-game point streak recording 21 points in that span. The 20-year-old centerman is currently third overall with 19 assists to start the season. Sean also leads the Knights in points this season with 27 points (8G, 19A) in 19 games. That is good for a 1.42 points per game pace.

Sean alongside teammate George Diaco rank inside the top 12 in points for all OHL skaters this season. London also has three players in the top 15 for longest point streaks this season. Sean McGurn (12 - active), George Diaco (8), and rookie Oliver Bonk (8).

Oliver Bonk owns a 'B' rating indicating a 2nd or 3rd round candidate and Easton Cowan and London Denver have a 'C' rating indicating a 4th/5th/6th round candidate. These rankings are published by the NHL Central scouting 2022-2023 Preliminary Players To Watch List as of October 25th, 2022.

Jackson Edward (Boston Bruins), Isaiah George (New York Islanders), Logan Mailloux (Montréal Canadiens), Max McCue (San Jose Sharks), and Landon Sim (St. Louis Blues) are the five Knight skaters drafted by their NHL teams respectively.

Broadcast Coverage:

Friday's contest will be televised live throughout Kitchener and the Waterloo Region on Rogers TV, cable channel 20, and can be watched across the province of Ontario on the Super Sports Pack on channel 470 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 on OHL Live on CHL TV. 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. For more information on Kitchener Rangers broadcast coverage, click here.

Rangers Reach: Win BIG Tonight!

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Next Up: Back to the regular scheduled puck drop of 2p.m. on Sunday as Kitchener hosts the Erie Otters for the second of three meetings at The Aud this season. Kitchener is looking to get their first victory of the season against Erie after the Otters won the first two matchups. Kitchener is also throwing it back to the 1980's in continuation of the 60 Years of Rangers celebrations.

Check out the Kitchener Rangers Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 24, 2022


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