PREGAME
Rangers: 22-11-2-0, second in western conference
Otters: 11-18-5-1, ninth in western conference
Head to head: Kitchener is 4-0 against Erie this season.
Game-time: 7:30 p.m.
The skinny: It has been a rough December for the Otters, who have one win and eight losses this month. The team will be without forward Taylor Raddysh, who is representing Canada at the world junior hockey championships. The Rangers have won seven of their past nine games and are coming off a one-sided 5-1 win in Owen Sound.
Keep an eye on: Adam Mascherin's league leading nine-game goal scoring streak ended in last night in Owen Sound. He'll look to restart the run against Erie. He already has four goals against the Otters this season.
Additional reading:
Back end should be Kitchener's focus at trade deadline
Rangers dominate Attack in return from holiday break
Kitchener:
Adam Mascherin-Greg Meireles-Kole Sherwood
Rickard Hugg-Joseph Garreffa-Cole Carter
Connor Bunnaman-Riley Damiani-Jake Henderson
Nick McHugh-Eric Guest-Jonathan Yantsis
Logan Stanley-Giovanni Vallati
Connor Hall-Grayson Ladd
Kyle Gentles-Jack York
Luke Richardson (15-8-1-0) starts.
Erie:
Kyle Maksimovich-Ivan Lodnia-Maxim Golod
Stephane Patry-Gera Poddubnyi-Cade Robinson
Patrick Fellows-Alex Gritz-Chad Yetman
Emmett Sproule-Joseph Mack-X
Ryan Martin-Jordan Sambrook
Jack Duff-Owen Headrick
Josh Wainman-Mitchell Byrne
Aidan Timmermans
Daniel Murphy (0-2-0-0) starts.
Game summary
Brownie points:
- If you're watching the world juniors, American defenceman Adam Fox was a Rangers eighth round draft pick in 2014. That was the year the Rangers had the second overall pick. Interestingly, only three players from that draft have ever played meaningful minutes for the club - Adam Mascherin, Connor Bunnaman and Connor Hall.
- Kitchener’s third goal was all Riley Damiani. His hustle to beat an Erie defenceman and chase a puck dumped behind the Otters’ net resulted in Connor Bunnaman’s 17th of the season.
- That’s goals in back-to-back games for Bunnaman, who now has points in seven consecutive games (3G, 7A).
- Erie goalie Dan Murphy had a shutout for the first half of the game. The youngster is still looking for his first OHL win. He’s a nice story as he was the final pick (301st overall) in the 2016 draft.
- How about that Rangers PP? 3-for-6 in the past two games. Not bad. Only two penalties (both to Erie) were called all game.
- Kitchener held Erie to single digit shots in the first and second period (8-5).
- I'm not sure you feel too good about this win. It wasn't pretty. Erie, a struggling team, had too many chances and hung around way too long. But, you take the points and smile.
- Kole Sherwood is in a bit of a funk and has just one goal in his past eight games.
JB's top three Rangers: Riley Damiani, Connor Bunnaman, Kyle Gentles