The good news? The Petes are on the tail end of a back-to-backer.
The bad news? The Petes are on fire and coming off an 8-5 blasting of the Plymouth Whalers.
The game marks the first chance for Waterloo's Steven Lorentz to step on the Aud ice as a foe. He's the second cousin of former Rangers centre Zach Lorentz.
The local lad grew up rooting for the Rangers and has turned into a nice story up north by becoming the long shot that, not only made the team, but one who is off to a strong start.
Lorentz has three points in three games, not bad for a 12th round selection.
As for the tilt itself, Tyson Teichmann gets the start. Defenceman Doug Blaisdell (shoulder) and forward Mason Kohn (ankle) will sit this one out.
Rangers lines:
Brent Pedersen-Matia Marcantuoni-Justin Bailey
Scott Teskey-Radek Faksa-Eric Ming
Darby Llewellyn-Ryan MacInnis-Nick Magyar
Mike Davies-Curtis Meighan-James Mense-Dietrich
Ben Fanelli-Evan McEneny
Jared Gilbert-Max Iafrate
Dmitrii Sergeev-Logan Schmidt
Peterborough:
Nick Ritchie-Eric Cornel-Stephen Nosad
Jonatan Tanus-Stephen Pierog-Chase Hatcher
Steven Lorentz-Michael Clarke-Matt McCartney
Josh Maguire-Anthony Stefano-Mitchell Webb
Nelson Armstrong-Brandon Devlin
Connor Boland-Matt Spencer
Cameron Lizotte-Steven Trojanovic
Andrew D'Agostini (0-1-0-0) starts.
Puck points:
- Defenceman Frank Hora is not injured. Same for forward Jimmy Soper. Both just getting a day off while other rookies get a chance to make their debuts.
- Well, you can't say this year's edition of the Rangers aren't exciting. Feels like fans are in for their fair share of edge of the seat endings. Holding on to leads is a symptom of a young club. But, as coach Troy Smith pointed out, the club has enough veterans that it shouldn't be (and isn't in his eyes) an issue.
- Another game where the defenceman played a big part in the offence. I wonder how much of that is the influence of new associate coach Mike Van Ryn.
- Let's give it up to the Petes, who came from behind to win for the third straight game.
- First career OHL goal for Ryan MacInnis.
- The Rangers are averaging 57 shots per game this season. Let's see a few roadies before buying into the haul. Might be some hometown trigger happy counting going on.
- Another solid outing from the top unit of Justin Bailey, Brent Pedersen and Matia Marcantuoni. All three look so much stronger with the puck this year. They won the majority of their shifts tonight.
- I counted four posts off blasts from the Rangers' blueline, including a crossbar shot to end the game.
- The power play looks so much more active than last year. Good puck movement and lots of shots.
- Marcantuoni and Radek Faksa give the club two solid centres. Wondering how Josh Sterk would look on Faksa's wing. Yeah, I said it.
JB's top three Rangers: Justin Bailey, Brent Pedersen, Ryan MacInnis