Sports stats



OHL Kitchener Rangers

Rieder and Murphy Lead Rangers to 5-3 Win in Guelph

January 29, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


The Kitchener Rangers defeated the Guelph Storm 5-3 on Sunday afternoon. Tobias Rieder and Ryan Murphy led the Rangers, each recording a goal and two assists.

The Rangers' top line went to work early, with a goal 2:37 into the first period. Michael Catenacci held the zone, creating a two-on-one opportunity and Tobias Rieder lifted the puck over a sprawling Garret Sparks for his team-leading 28th of the season. Winger Ben Thomson was also credited with an assist.

Kitchener added a short-handed goal with just over two minutes remaining in the frame. Catenacci interrupted a pass inside the Rangers' blue line, allowing Murphy to jump on the puck and break in alone. The speedy defenseman slid the puck through the five-hole of Sparks for his sixth goal of the season and fourth in his last five games.

Guelph would get on the board with a power play marker in the dying seconds of the first period. The Storm won the face-off in the Rangers' zone and applied pressure on netminder Franky Palazzese before Tanner Richard collected the puck in the slot, spun and fired it into the back of the net. The import rookie's eleventh of the year was assisted by Francis Menard and Matt Finn.

The Storm out-shot the Rangers 14-11 in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The Rangers regained their two-goal lead on a 4-on-3 power play in the second period. Cody Sol's heavy shot from the point beat Sparks five-hole and put his team ahead 3-1. The overage rearguard has scored eleven times this season and has five points in his last three contests. Rieder and Murphy each picked up their second point of the afternoon with the assists.

Just over a minute later, Kitchener extended its lead to three. Zach Lorentz lit the lamp for the 18th time this season with a wrist shot that soared over the glove hand of Sparks. The sophomore winger has more than tripled his point total of last season. Assisting on the play were rookie Josh Sterk and Murphy, who is riding an impressive streak of 18 points in his last seven games.

The Rangers held a 10-6 lead in shots on goal in the second period.

Guelph used a power play goal early in the third to cut the Rangers' lead in half. Palazzese made the stop on Finn, but Jason Dickinson was in front to tip in his fifth of the season. Andrey Pedan also picked up a helper on the play.

The Storm pulled within one with just over five minutes left on the clock. Palazzese denied the initial shot by Richard, but Zack Mitchell was on the doorstep to collect the rebound and toss it in the open side of the net. The third-year forward leads Guelph skaters with 26 goals this season.

The Rangers added an insurance goal with just 12 seconds remaining. Andrew Crescenzi won the face off to the right of the Storm net and Rieder picked it up and fired. Sparks made the save, but Crescenzi was there to bury the rebound for his second goal in as many contests and 14th of the season. Rieder's third point of the afternoon extended his recent streak to fourteen points in seven games.

Guelph out-shot Kitchener 13-5 in the final period of play and 33-26 overall. Palazzese made 30 saves in his third consecutive win.

With the victory, the Rangers improve to 4-0 against the Storm this season, and boost their record to 33-13-1-0. The Storm fall to 21-20-2-3 and sit in fourth place in the Midwest.

Check out the Kitchener Rangers Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Ontario Hockey League message board...

Ontario Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2012


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central