The Kitchener Rangers kicked off their first triple header of the season Friday night on East Ave. The Rangers hosted a Flint Firebirds team that has been much better than expected this season, entering play with a 5-3-1-0 record.
One of those wins came in a game where the Firebirds skunked the Rangers, beating them 3-0 earlier this month back in Flint. Since this, the Firebirds have ripped off three more wins, which had them on a four-game win streak entering play.
As for the Blueshirts, they were coming off a massive bounce-back victory against the London Knights last Sunday. However, they were dealt a blow on Thursday. The Sherwood Park Crusaders in the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) announced the signing of Oscar Hemming, a top prospect in this year’s NHL draft class, who was initially signed to play with the Rangers this season, before his transfer was disputed by his Finnish organization.
Nonetheless, the Rangers have to move on, and that started with evening up the season series against the Firebirds.
Dominant From Start to Finish
The last time the Rangers played the Firebirds, we saw a somewhat similar first period, where the Rangers controlled the scoring chances and the game was tied after 20 minutes. The difference between the two games was the Rangers’ performance in the final two periods.
In the first matchup of the season, the Rangers faded away after dominating the shots 10-3 in the first period, going on to lose 3-0. This time around, the Rangers went on to outshoot the Firebirds 28-9 and score three straight unanswered goals to close the game.
It needs to be noted that Mason Vaccari was phenomenal for the Firebirds in net. He made two save-of-the-year type of stops and countless saves on high-quality scoring chances. The Rangers did not quit; they kept swarming the Firebirds and eventually broke through. With how much offensive zone time the Rangers had in this one, the game felt over from the time they scored their second goal.
This performance was up there with some of the Rangers’ most dominant performances of the season. They carried over the strong play from the win in London last weekend and have now played 120 straight minutes of good hockey.
Alex Forrest Standing Out on the Wing
It was a great all-around game for the Rangers. Several stood out, especially Colorado Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys, who was the game’s first star with a goal and two assists. Nashville Predators first-round pick Cameron Reid also had two assists. Cameron Arquette had a goal and seven shots on net, Tanner Lam had a goal on five shots, and Avry Anstis scored his second goal of the season. While held pointless, all Alexander Bilecki, Luca Romano, and Jack Pridham had four or more shots on goal and could have been on the stat sheet on several occasions.
The one Ranger I want to highlight from the game is Alex Forrest, who was again playing out of position on the wing.
Forrest played the first two games of the season with the Rangers on their blue line before their NHL prospects returned from training camps. With the strength of the Rangers’ defense core, Forrest was sent down to the Cambridge Redhawks of the Greater Ontario Hockey League (GOHL), where he put up 21 points in nine games.
The Rangers were looking for offence, and taking the chance playing him at forward seems to have paid off. Forrest recorded his first Ontario Hockey League (OHL) point with an assist in the Rangers’ win over the Knights. While he was held off the scoresheet in this 4-1 victory over Flint, Forrest made several plays on the forecheck, which led to Rangers’ chances, made a few nice passes to set teammates up directly, and had four shots of his own.
Forrest’s combination of speed and stick checking allowed him to be disruptive on the forecheck. Once he has the puck on his stick, he has all kinds of offensive talent. The Rangers have potentially found something here with him playing on the wing. I wouldn’t be shocked if we keep seeing Forrest in this role throughout the season.
Rangers Faithful Showed Up for a While
On Friday night, the Rangers had to compete with the biggest sporting event in Ontario since the Toronto Raptors’ NBA Championship in 2019, and the biggest baseball game in Toronto Blue Jays history since 1993.
I’ll be honest, driving to the Aud on Friday, I thought I would be walking into a ghost town. However, it was buzzing in there, with the Rangers reporting an official crowd of 6,084 people. Slightly less than the typical Friday crowd, but an incredible turnout considering the circumstances.
However, once the Blue Jays game started, the building emptied out quickly, whether that was just out to the concourse where the game was on televisions around the arena, or elsewhere. To me, it was a testament to how strong the Rangers’ fan base is.
Even with the must-watch World Series game, the fans showed up to support, even if they knew they were leaving early to watch another game.
Even after the building emptied out, a decent number of fans remained to watch hockey. This became obvious after the Dalton Varsho home run, as the crowd erupted during a casual battle for the puck along the boards.
Later in the game, “Let’s go Blue Jays” chants rang out across the Aud. It was a unique environment, with all the fans simultaneously rooting for two teams at once.
I’m sure none would admit to it, but there was absolutely nothing in the way of extracurricular activity after the whistle in this game. It seemed like the players were also trying to move the game along to get back in the locker room to tune into the end of the game.
The Rangers are back in action on the road against the Barrie Colts on Saturday night at 7:30, 30 minutes before first pitch on Game 2 of the World Series. Rangers fans, I hope you’ve got two screens to keep up with all the action.
