A few minor adjustments to Kitchener's lines heading into tonight's tilt with the Sarnia Sting.
Overage forward Nick Czinder is back in after being a healthy scratch. Here's how it looks:
Matt Puempel-Radek Faksa-Eric Ming
Ben Thomson-Matia Marcantuoni-Tobias Rieder
Brent Pedersen-Domenic Alberga-Justin Bailey
Darby Llewellyn-Curtis Meighan-Nick Czinder
Ben Fanelli-Ryan Murphy
Evan McEneny-Max Iafrate
Cory Genovese-Owen Stewart
Franky Palazzese (3-2-1-1) gets the start.
For Sarnia it's:
Alex Galchenyuk-Charles Sarault-Reid Boucher
Nikolay Goldobin-Dan Nikandrov-Nickolas Latta
Alex Carnevale-Brett Hargraves-Bryan Moore
Alex Renaud-Jordan Addesi-Mike DiPaolo
Connor Murphy-Alex Basso
Anthony DeAngelo-Craig Duininck
Josh Chapman-Jack Kuzmyk
Brodie Barrick starts.
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Ex-Rangers forward Zach Lorentz is on the move again.
The Waterloo native was traded to Windsor from Peterborough along with defenceman Trevor Murphy for overage forward, and Kitchener native, Derek Schoenmakers and blueliner Brandon Devlin.
The teams also swapped sixth round picks.
Lorentz went north in the off-season from Kitchener with picks for Matt Puempel.
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The OHL slapped Ottawa forward Sean Monahan with a 10-game suspension for his check to the head of Plymouth captain Colin MacDonald.
The world junior hopeful might as well head to camp now, since the suspension will take him beyond Team Canada's Dec. 10 tryouts.
It's up to the OHL to decide if he can go to the tryouts or not, according to Team Canada coach Steve Spott
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Assitant coach Mike McKenzie will be behind the bench tonight with assistant GM/associate coach Paul Fixter away on a scouting trip.
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Forward Josh Sterk is out indefinitely with a concussion.
The injury occurred after he was clipped with a high stick against London last Sunday. He left that game and returned wearing a cage.
He was fine the next day at practice but started to feel symptoms of a concussion after a subsequent off-ice workout.
He is the fourth Rangers to suffer a concussion this season. The others include Nick Czinder, Justin Bailey and Jared Gilbert.
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Puck points:
- Radek Faksa (fatigue) is back practising and working out daily after experiencing fluctuating energy levels for about 2-3 weeks.
- Jared Gilbert (concussion) has begun his return to play protocol.
- Blueliner Owen Stewart has nine games under his belt with the Rangers. That's into card definition territory, but, for those wondering, he's already on an OHL card.
- It was 1970s night at the Aud, would have been nice to have ushers in afro wigs, 70s tunes all night and few more alumni at centre ice (only two hit the faceoff circle).
- Funny what happens when the Rangers shoot the puck on the power play. Evan McEneny scores (seconds after it expired) after delivering a rocket from the point. Let's see more of this.
- Five zip Rangers, lots of goals, and a hush over the crowd. Out of towners keep asking why it's so quiet here.
- After two duds, a proper thrashing was just what the Rangers needed. Even better was the production from the support players - Darby Llewellyn, Evan McEneny and Eric Ming.
- I'd love to see shots per ice time stats for Llewellyn. Seems like he gets off a shot per shift.
- Radek Faksa is feeling better no doubt. The Czech has six points in his past three games.
- Two quiet assists from Ryan Murphy tonight. Gotta give him some props as he's been feeling the heat from fans of late.
- Justin Bailey is gaining confidence with the coaches and was rewarded for his play by getting some time on the penalty kill.
JB's top three Rangers: Franky Palazzese, Matt Puempel, Radek Faksa
