On Sunday night, the Kitchener Rangers came out and defended home ice again, taking a 2-0 series lead in Round 1 of the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) playoffs.
It was a very different game from their Game 1 victory on Friday night. The high-scoring, high-chance game where the Rangers had to come from behind.
Related: 4 Takeaways From Kitchener Rangers’ Game 1 Victory Over the Saginaw Spirit
Sunday was a low-scoring, low-event game that was tied at zero through 40 minutes. However, after several quality chances net front that just missed, the Rangers finally got a bounce as Carson Campbell found Sam O’Reilly’s skate, which was perfectly angled to redirect the puck in the net for the opening goal, less than a minute into the third period.
From there, the Rangers cruised to the finish line, not allowing the Spirit to register a shot on goal in the third period and adding three more goals, one from Gabriel Chiarot on a great individual effort, then Tanner Lam off a great pass from 2026 NHL Draft eligible Alexander Bilecki and Cameron Reid with a perfectly placed one-timer to round out the 4-0 shutout.
As predicted after Game 1 in this series, it was a much cleaner Rangers victory. Let’s discuss what changed and what we can take away as this series shifts south of the border.
Jared Woolley Sets Example For The Rangers
Part of what was missing from the Rangers’ game in the opener of this series was their physical edge. They were sitting back on defence, giving up zone entries for free and allowing the Spirit too much space with the puck.
On Sunday, Jared Woolley made it a point to show everyone that the Rangers were there to dominate physically, picking out Josh Glavin and getting the better of him in a fight six minutes into the game.
The tussle sparked physicality throughout the Rangers’ lineup, leading to a ton of big, clean hits throughout the night. But that wasn’t the best example the Los Angeles Kings prospect set in the game, as he gave the rest of the Rangers’ blueliners the blueprint on preventing the Spirit’s zone entries.
With the Spirit knowing the Rangers’ love to trap through the neutral zone, they came out attacking the Rangers’ blue through the middle of the ice, getting the Blueshirts to collapse, then dishing out to the boards to create the entry with space.
Sunday night, the Rangers’ blueliners did a much better job of showing pressure to force the puck carrier to make that pass to the boards, but recovering back to take away any space from the Spirit after crossing the blue line.
It was a complete effort across the Rangers lineup to contain the Spirit to just 14 shots, but to me, Woolley was the standout from setting the tone to leading the charge, breaking up countless plays at the blue line with his long reach and physical play.
The Spirit’s top line is incredibly talented, but they aren’t immune to pressure. We saw that last night. We’ll see if they can adjust and beat what the Rangers showed in Game 2, or if that will be the blueprint the Rangers can use for the rest of the series.
Christian Kirsch Slams The Door
From the box score, people will see 14 shots against and go ‘of course he got a shutout’, and to be fair, that is probably entirely valid in hindsight of the 4-0 final. Nothing he faced was like the free throws the Spirit were getting on Friday night to score four goals.
I had a different perspective for this one. Rather than listening to the commentators on whichever broadcast or being up in the press box, I was amongst other Rangers fans down in the bowl, taking in Game 2.
While the Rangers were controlling most of the chances and getting unfortunate bounces, just narrowly missing numerous goals early, there was a feeling of nervousness in the crowd, thinking it may just be one of those nights the hockey gods were against the Rangers when they couldn’t break through.
Specifically, during the Spirit’s second power play of the game, where all of their most dangerous chances of the contest came. They had several quality looks from some tremendous puck movement, but the San Jose Sharks prospect was tracking it all and square to everything.
Side note: Along with the primary assist on the opener, Campbell’s other biggest standout play was a huge shot block, swallowing a great chance after a plethora of chances Kirsch turned away at the end of that kill.
If any one of these squeaked past Kirsch, this could have been a different game. In the playoffs, it’s not about how many; it’s about how important they were, and all 14 Kirsch made were huge for momentum in this game.
Both Sides Lobbying For Calls
Through two games, the refs have been letting these guys play. Maybe to an extent, too much, as both sides have been getting away with some stick work, and you’re starting to see a lot of hacks and whacks.
While we were not quite in prison-rules territory, the selective whistle has left both sides frustrated, and we are seeing numerous conversations between whistles, at TV timeouts, and between periods.
The officiating is always going to be highly questioned, but the dynamic in this playoff series is interesting, watching these guys go back and forth trying to draw the next call, and the other side seeing these conversations and quickly having one of their captains jump in to not let the refs’ opinion be swayed too much one way or another.
However, neither side seems to have too much influence, with Game 1 having a 3-0 powerplay opportunity advantage in favour of the Rangers, and Game 2 having a 3-0 powerplay advantage in favour of the Spirit.
The takeaway from these first two games of this series is that the refs are trying to have as little impact as possible. They’re only calling the blatantly obvious infractions and will try to keep the calls relatively close throughout the series.
It hasn’t been an overly violent series, but the longer it goes on, the more the frustration may mount with the bruises many of these guys are likely taking from sticks. As this series goes on, it’ll be important that the Rangers stay disciplined and not force the whistles to come out if they aren’t getting the calls they expect.
The Shift to Saginaw
These two teams will be back in action on Tuesday at the Dow Event Centre for Game 3 of this seven-game set.
Not to look too far ahead, but these could be two pivotal games for the Rangers to walk away with a sweep to allow them to get some rest while the London Knights and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds could end up playing an extended series.
