The Kitchener Jr Rangers MD Red team snapped their first losing skid of the season by beating the Burlington Bulldogs White 3 to 1 on a rare out of town Wednesday night game.
Owen Neomytka had the win and made sure he wasn’t allowing many rebounds in a game where at times he was forced to hold down the fort. Neomytka moved side to side with ease and was constantly square with his shooter giving no free angles or looks.
A really nice tip by Jake Fisher opened the scoring in the game off a Toby Pryce point shot after Connor Coughlin fed the point. Not long after Fisher found Caleb Cumming in the slot with a nifty pass with Noah Park making a nice play to get the play started. The Rangers then took to the power play and Connor Coughlin banged home a rebound, once again, off a Pryce point shot, set up by Park.
The Rangers were without a vacationing Chad Morris but the defenders, Kodi Blackshaw, Matt Gallant, Josh McDonald, Pryce and Park all rose to the occasion and played a terrific game.
On the offensive side, the bulk of the production came from the Coughlin line, however, all three lines created chances. Stephen Peppas flanking Jacob Reid-Brant and Evan Peori showed a lot of chemistry moving the puck in zone and coming real close time after time. Quinten Earle moving to center really suited his line in the defensive zone while both Denver Heiman and Logan Duke had chances and drove the net hard and won puck battles.
Overall, the game was a tad slow at times and appeared to lack energy and intensity. It could have been the unusual mid-week game or the return to action after a tournament, but nonetheless, the team will need to show more bite this weekend against the tough 99ers.
Go Rangers!