OHL Kitchener Rangers

Strong Play by Gibson Leads Rangers to 3-2 Win

November 17, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Kitchener Rangers News Release


The Kitchener Rangers defeated the Sarnia Sting 3-2 at the RBC Centre on Thursday night. John Gibson stopped 38-of-40 shots he faced to pick up his third straight win.

Cody Sol opened the scoring with just over two minutes left to play in the first period. The overage defenseman took advantage on the power play and fired the puck past Sarnia goalie Brandon Maxwell. Tobias Rieder picked up the assist on Sol's third of the season.

The Sting out-shot the Rangers 9-7 in the first frame.

Kitchener continued to press in the second period when Rieder broke out short-handed with Michael Catenacci, playing in his first game sine returning from injury. The captain fed Rieder in front and he showed patience eventually sliding it past Maxwell for his fourth short-handed goal of the year. It was the third time this season that the duo combined to score while a man-down.

The Sting would get one back less than a minute later on the power play. Nail Yakupov, ranked second in the league in scoring, launched a shot through Kitchener netminder John Gibson to make it 2-1 Rangers. The Russian import's 14th of the year was assisted by Charles Sarault and Craig Hottot.

Kitchener reestablished their two-goal lead with under two to play in the frame. Maxwell made the initial stop on the shot by Zach Lorentz, but Matia Marcantuoni cut through the defenders and buried the rebound. His sixth of the year was also assisted by Radek Faksa. That would end Maxwell's night - the former Ranger was replaced between the pipes by Brandon Hope.

Sarnia continued to lead shots-on-goal in the second, with a 10-9 advantage in the frame.

With just over 12 minutes remaining, the Sting closed the gap to one. Nathan Chiarlitti tipped in Nail Yakupov's shot from the left point for his third of the season. Taylor Carnevale also picked up a helper on the play.

That is as close as they would get, however. Gibson withstood a flurry of last minute chances after Sarnia went to the power-play and pulled Hope for the extra attacker. He stopped 38-of-40 shots to pick up his third straight win and sixth in his last seven starts.

The Sting dominated shots on goal 15-3 in the third period, finishing with a 40-19 overall advantage.

Kitchener has won four consecutive games and improves its record to 13-6-1-0. The Sting sit at 13-4-1-3 and all to second place in the West Division. The two teams conclude their season series on Sunday, November 27 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from November 17, 2011


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