Hounds clipped Kitchener kicking off road trip

By Chris Pope

It was a battle for first place in the Western Conference in the Ontario Hockey League.

The Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds grounded the Kitchener Rangers 3-2 in the opening of a three-game road trip for the Rangers.

The game was tied heading into the third period, before the Greyhounds scored twice. Greg Meireles answered back late in the frame, but the Rangers were unable to get a chance for late game heroics.

As Anthony Dumont-Bouchard was going to the bench, the team was also in the middle of a line change. At the same time, the Greyhounds took possession of the puck, so Dumont-Bouchard retreated to his net, and the melee in front of Kitchener’s bench led to a penalty for too many men.

“That’s a tough situation when we have six guys changing on the ice and six guys coming off the bench,” said Rangers Head Coach Jay McKee.

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The loss was the first for Dumont-Bouchard, who was forced to make a few huge saves. He stopped 22-of-25 shots.

Captain Connor Bunnaman opened the scoring for the Rangers to finally get off the schneid notching his first of the year. He added an assist on the Meireles marker matching his season point total.

“Holy. It felt good,” said Bunnaman. “I just closed my eyes and shot it. Hopefully they keep coming.”

The Greyhounds improve to 7-1-1, and have allowed just 23 goals against in nine games this year.

The loss for Kitchener – the second in a row away from East Ave – leaves them one point up on the Owen Sound Attack for first in the division, but the Attack have two games in hand.

Kitchener travels to Saginaw Saturday, followed by facing Flint Sunday afternoon.

 

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