Rangers pull together crucial overtime win in Flint
Posted Mar 12, 2017 10:19:20 AM.
Last Updated Mar 13, 2017 04:44:17 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The Kitchener Rangers are back in the win column, and the timing couldn’t be better for the East Ave. squad.
Kitchener came away from their trip to Flint, Michigan with a 4-3 overtime win over the Firebirds, a team that has been nipping at the Rangers’ heels in the playoff standings. With just two points separating the teams ahead of the matchup — and a week remaining in the regular season — some were calling it the biggest game of the season.
Connor Bunnaman led the Rangers in scoring with a hat-trick, but it was Nick McHugh that provided the overtime heroics in the end. The win put an end to Kitchener’s three-game losing streak.
“There’s a lot more focus in the room,” says Bunnaman. “[We’re] talking a lot more, seeing what we need to do and be better at.”
The win gives the Rangers a three-point lead over Flint in the playoff standings — breathing room, but not much.
“It’s not so much about where we are in the standings, it’s about winning games,” says Jay McKee, head coach of the Kitchener Rangers.
“We talked before the third [period], recently we’ve let these games slip away, and going into the playoffs, you certainly want to find ways to close out these games and not get into the bad habits that we’ve had.”
The Rangers head to Guelph Tuesday night for a matchup with the Storm.
