Saginaw was the third and final stop on the Kitchener Rangers’ first road trip of the season.
Their matchup with the Saginaw Spirit was their third game in four days. To open the trip, the Rangers were shut out by the Flint Firebirds. Then, on Saturday night, they threw away a three-goal lead against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Kitchener Rangers’ Loss to Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds
It was two straight games where the Rangers dominated the first period, but fell apart in the last two periods. Coming in on Saturday night, surely the focus was on putting together a full 60-minute effort.
Game Recap
Once again, the Rangers got off to a hot start five minutes into the game as Tanner Lam dangled through a couple of Saginaw defenders. He chipped the puck toward the net, and Jack Pridham tapped it in the wide-open net to give the Blueshirts a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers then extended the lead to two in the second period. Pridham found Lam right off the offensive zone entry, who fed Alexander Bilecki wide open in front for his first goal of the season.
They carried the lead into the third period, but the Spirit responded six minutes into the third on Levi Harper’s third goal of the season.
The Rangers got that cushion back shortly after, on Haeden Ellis’s fourth goal of the season, which surpasses his goal total in 36 games last season.
The Rangers held on to the lead and closed out the 3-1 victory. It was a complete 60-minute effort, their best game of the road trip by far, and arguably one of their best games of the season, with the Rangers outshooting the Spirit 27-14 through two periods and shutting down the defensive zone in the third period.
Rangers Played to Their Full Potential
In their first game to open the road trip against Flint, the Rangers dominated the scoring chances. They were not rewarded on the score sheet. After the first 20 minutes, the Firebirds controlled play for the remaining 40 minutes.
Then on Friday, the Rangers put up three quick goals against the Greyhounds in the first period. They went on to give up five goals in the final 40 minutes to lose 5-4—their first set of back-to-back losses this season.
In both of these games, the Rangers took their foot off the gas and let it spiral out of control. On Saturday night, in the contest against the Spirit, the Rangers took control of the game right away, dominating the scoring chances, taking the early lead, and never looking back.
For 60 minutes, they made clean, smart decisions with the puck and maintained their structure, which allowed them to suppress scoring chances and enable their talent to take over on the offensive end. When they dial in and outwork their opponents, few teams in this league will be able to compete with their talent consistently.
Alexander Bilecki’s Big Night
Alexander Bilecki was credited with the game-winning goal on Saturday night against the Spirit. He picked a great time to jump up in the rush and found himself all alone in front, and made no mistake finishing off the goal.
He found his way onto the score sheet again, having a primary assist on Haeden Ellis’s goal, which iced the 3-1 victory.
Outside of the stat sheet, Bilecki had an excellent game retrieving and moving pucks in the defensive end. It looked like he was playing with a ton of confidence. These were his second and third points of the regular season.
He is a tremendous skater and can impact the game at both ends of the ice. If he plays this way consistently throughout the remainder of the season, the 2026 NHL Draft prospect could find his way on some teams’ boards.
Rangers’ Offensive Talent Is Off the Charts & More Is Coming
The Rangers’ top six forward group was on fire. The Lam, Pridham, and Luca Romano line accounted for two of the three goals for the Rangers, and their second line of Ellis, Cameron Arquette, and Christian Humphreys created several scoring chances throughout the game.
On the back end, Bilecki had a great game offensively. Cameron Reid, a Nashville Predators first-round pick, was noticeable, as usual, with five shots on net. Jakub Chromiak and Jacob Xu even had a couple of chances on the back end.
They have the capacity to come at you in waves with multiple elite offensive lines, and they are not even at full strength yet. The Rangers are still waiting on Lucas Ellinas, an Ottawa Senators fourth-round draft pick, to return from an injury, and Oscar Hemming, a potential 2026 NHL Draft pick, to be released from his Finnish junior club.
If the Rangers can get these two in the lineup, they will be able to come up with three elite offensive lines, which could make them near impossible to beat when they bring their A game.
What’s Next for the Rangers?
This three-game road trip was also the Rangers’ first three-game week of the season. With that wrapped up, they now return home for a two-game home stand, with the first game against the Guelph Storm on Tuesday night. They will then host the London Knights on Friday night, before completing the home-and-home series against the Knights on Sunday to close out the week on the road.
There have been a few rocky performances for the Rangers over their last five games. However, this win against the Spirit sets the blueprint for how they need to play every game. Let’s see if this win can ignite a long win streak.
