OHL Kitchener Rangers

Rangers Fall 6-3 to Belleville

February 3, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


The Belleville Bulls defeated the Kitchener Rangers 6-3 on Friday night. Austin Brassard scored twice for the Bulls, who tie the season series with Kitchener at one win each. Rangers Andrew Crescenzi and Tobias Rieder each recorded a goal and an assist in the loss.

The Rangers opened the scoring late in the opening period. Brandon Francisco's attempt bounced off the skaters in front and on to the stick of Andrew Crescenzi. The veteran centre squeezed the puck past the right pad of Bulls netminder Malcolm Subban for his 15th of the season. Crescenzi has scored in three straight games. Sophomore forward Zach Lorentz was also credited with an assist on the play.

Belleville led shots on goal 14-10 through the first period.

The Bulls evened the score at 1-1 seven minutes into the second period when Adam Payerl snapped the puck past Franky Palazzese. Assisting on the overage forward's 14th of the season were Joseph Cramarossa and Brendan Gaunce.

Austin Brassard would put Belleville up by one before the period was over, firing a long shot that cleared Palazzese on his blocker side. Danlil Zharkov and Jordan Mayer picked up assists on Brassard's team-leading 24th of the season.

The Bulls continued to out-shoot the Rangers 18-11 in the second frame.

Tobias Rieder picked up the puck to the left of Subban and lifted the pick into the top corner of the net for his 29th of the year at 2:20 of the third. The German winger leads the Rangers with 52 points this season and has points in eight consecutive contests. Assisting on the play were defenseman Cody Sol and team captain Michael Catenacci, who extended his recent scoring streak to seven games.

The Rangers pulled ahead 3-2 on the power play, when Ryan Murphy's point shot rattled past Subban. The veteran rearguard has been a fixture on the score sheets recently, with six goals and 13 assists in the Rangers' last eight games. Rieder and Crescenzi each picked up their second points of the contest with the helpers. Crescenzi has put together a five-game point streak, with four goals and five helpers.

Less than two minutes later, however, Brassard scored his second of the night pull the Bulls even. Zharkov was credited with his second helper of the night, with Jason Shaw also assisting on the play.

Belleville regained the lead midway through the final frame. Dylan Corson won the draw to the left of Palazzese and Michael Curtis picked up the puck and threw a quick shot into the net. The third-year winger has eleven goals this season.

Adam Payerl added two empty net goals for the Bulls in the final 90 seconds making the final score 6-3. Gaunce recorded his second assist of the night on Payerl's first empty netter.

Belleville out-shot the Rangers 17-16 in the final period and 49-37 overall. Franky Palazzese made 43 saves for Kitchener. Malcolm Subban stopped of 34 shots in his first start since December 17th.

The teams split their season series with one win apiece. The Rangers' season record is now 33-14-1-0, while the Bulls improve to 24-23-1-0.

Check out the Kitchener Rangers Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 3, 2012


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