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OHL Kitchener Rangers

Rangers Head to London for First Matchup of the Season

November 5, 2023 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


London, ON - Fresh off a 5-2 victory on Friday night against North Bay, the Kitchener Rangers will turn their focus to their Midwest Division rivals, the London Knights. Puck drop is set for 6 pm in London at The Budweiser Gardens.

TV: Rogers Channel 20 (Kitchener)

Video Stream: OHL Live on CHL TV

Radio: 570 AM CKGL

Head-to-Head:

The Rangers head into Sunday's match placed second in the OHL and first in the Western Conference and Mid-west Division with a 10-5-0-0 record. The London Knights are currently placed fifth in the league and second behind the Rangers in the Midwest Division with a 9-4-0-1 record. Most recently, they faced the Attack in Owen Sound where they won 3-2 in regulation.

Sunday's contest will be the first of six meetings this season between the two clubs. Over the past five seasons, the division rivals have faced off 34 times in the regular season. Kitchener is 10-23-1-0 overall against the Knights and is 6-11-0-0 in London.

The last time the two teams met was last year in the second round of playoffs when London took the series 4-1. The Rangers were the eighth seed in the Western Conference versus the Knights who were the second seed. In the 2022-23 regular season, Kitchener was 1-4-1-0 against London.

The Rangers' special teams so far this season have been strong sitting sixth in the league's power-play rankings converting at 25.0% while their penalty kill is fifth in the league at 83.0%. London's power play is twelfth converting at 15.2%, however, the Knights own the league's third-best penalty kill at 88.7%.

Scouting the Rangers:

Carson Rehkopf (Seattle Kraken) leads the Rangers and the OHL in points (28), goals (17), and game-winning goals (4). Friday night against North Bay, Rehkopf recorded a three-point night (2G, 1A), his ninth multi-point game of the season.

Hunter Brzustewicz (Vancouver Canucks) is second behind Rehkopf with 27 points and leads the OHL in assists with 22. Brzustewicz is also on a 14-game point streak. Over the last five games, Brzustewicz has recorded seven points all of which are assists.

Filip Mešár (Montreal Canadians) has played four games for the Rangers since returning from the Laval Rocket and has registered two goals and five assists for seven points. Against North Bay, Mešár assisted both of Rehkopf's goals for two assists.

In net, Jackson Parsons played his 10th game of the season recording his sixth win of the year on Friday night against the Battalion. In his first 10 games, Parsons has averaged 2.79 goals against and has a .904 save percentage.

Scouting the Knights:

Their last time out, the Knights beat Owen Sound 3-2. Sam O'Reilly recorded an assist on their second goal and scored the game-winning goal for the Knights in the final minute of the game. Owen Wilmore had a solid performance for his fourth start in net last night as he recorded 38 saves on 40 shots.

Denver Barkey (Philadelphia Flyers) leads the Knights with 18 points (9G, 9A). He has registered at least one point in 12 out of 14 games he's played so far this season.

Easton Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs) has played in nine games and recorded 16 points with six goals and 10 assists since being reassigned to the Knights from the Maple Leafs. Selected 28th overall in the 2023 NHL Draft Cowan is London's highest draft pick on their roster.

Between the pipes, London acquired Michael Simpson from the Peterborough Petes on September 26th in exchange for Zach Bowen and a 3rd round pick in the 2025 OHL Priority Selection. The 2023 OHL Champion and OHL Finals MVP is currently placed second in the league's goaltenders. Simpson has started the season playing 10 games with 2.29 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.

The Knights have eight players on their roster drafted to NHL teams; Cowan (Toronto Maple Leafs), Kasper Halttunen (San Jose Sharks), Max McCue (San Jose Sharks), Barkey (Philadelphia Flyers), Landon Sim (St. Louis Blues), Isaiah George (New York Islanders), Oliver Bonk (Philadelphia Flyers) and Jackson Edwards (Boston Bruins).

Rangers Connections:

If you're a Rangers fan or a Knights fan respectfully you have no issue knowing who to cheer for as the rivalry runs deep. However, in the Brzustewicz family, picking who to cheer for will be a little harder to decide this time around as Hunter Brzustewicz's younger brother Henry is a defender for London. Henry was acquired by the Knights from the Ottawa 67s on September 1st for a second-round pick in 2025, and second and third-round picks in 2027.

Next Up:

The Kitchener Rangers head to Owen Sound for a midweek match against the Attack. Puck drop is set for 7 pm at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre. The Rangers get back to The Aud on Friday facing last year's Ross Robertson Cup champions the Peterborough Petes for their Remembrance Day game. The puck will drop at 7 pm. Don't miss any of the action on home ice. Grab your tickets at The Aud Box Office sponsored by White Way Plumbing or online.

Check out the Kitchener Rangers Statistics



Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 5, 2023


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