Kitchener’s captain Connor catches fire

Connor Bunnaman is over whatever ailed him.

At the end of September, he missed two and a half games with the flu. Coming off a 52-point season, Bunnaman had only two assists in six games.

Then came this weekend, when he returned to being sick; just the kind the cool kids say to one another. (Do kids still say that?)

Bunnaman played a big part in the Kitchener Rangers picking up wins against the Saginaw Spirit (3-2) and the Flint Firebirds (5-3).

He broke the goal-goose-egg with two points in Friday’s 3-2 loss to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. By the end of Sunday afternoon, the Guelph native had five goals and two assists in three games.

“[He] scored two of the easiest goals of his career [tonight], just going to the net with the puck sitting there,” laughed Rangers Head Coach Jay McKee. “That’s just a testament to doing things right.”

The Rangers captain has a share of the team lead in goals, with five, and is in a four-way tie for second in points with nine.

“I just want the win,” Bunnaman said on the weekend. “If I score that’s great.”

At times, his line – Bunnaman, Jake Henderson and Rickard Hugg – controlled the play at will. Henderson, who leads the team with 10 points, earned three of them this weekend. Hugg, while playing extremely well with six points in his last six games, is still without a goal on the season.

“We find each other really well on the ice. We get pucks to the net, and we have some good chemistry,” said Hugg, adding, “It would be nice to score some goals. Hopefully it will come.”

It wasn’t just the captain’s line though that found chemistry Sunday.

“We were really able to balance out the shifts with our lines,” said McKee. “I thought our fourth line was excellent (…) last night they got called out.”

The fourth line Sunday consisted of Nick McHugh, Eric Guest, and Jonathan Yantsis who was given the Rangers’ firefighter helmet after the game.

“It feels pretty good after a hard game like that,” said Yantsis. “Anytime you’re on the fourth line you’re trying to battle for minutes. We created a lot of offence and had a good game.”

The Rangers’ attention now turns to Friday night, when they host the London Knights.

The Knights have conquered Kitchener in each of the last 13 games, including a season sweep last year.