The Kitchener Jr Rangers MD Red team appeared a step behind in a 5 to 2 win over the Sarnia Sting Saturday afternoon.
Perhaps it was the long ride that had the players looking half asleep, but it wasn’t the same high-octane puck moving offensive dominating performance the coaches are accustomed to watching.
That said, credit to Sarnia for playing a tough game and keeping the Rangers honest and on their toes.
The Rangers found a way to win in large part from a pair of goals from Jacob Reid-Brant, a trio of assists by Toby Pryce and a stellar performance in net from Aiden Radatus.
The energetic Caleb Cumming opened the scoring from Pryce and Logan Duke. Connor Coughlin had a short-handed marker from Reid-Brant and Chad Morris. Reid-Brant scored from Pryce and then again from Jake Fisher and Pryce on the powerplay. Quinten Earle finished things off for the Rangers from Duke and Josh McDonald.
The Rangers were again short on defense without Matt Gallant. Noah Park and Kodi Blackshaw saw a lot of ice and were steady for the team all game. The forwards were also short without Stephan Peppas and they looked to guys like Denver Heiman and Evan Peori to add energy into the line up.
It could have been fatigue playing a part, but the Rangers allowed some quality scoring chances and thankfully Radatus was up for the test. Radatus was forced to make some key saves as the Rangers struggled to find their rhythm before walking away with the game.
Good teams find ways to win games and this Rangers team is very good. The coaches have full confidence the team will be back on track Tuesday when they host the London Bandits Black at Don McLaren arena.
Happy Thanksgiving and Go Rangers!