Rangers take bite out of ‘Dogs

It was a dominating performance from the Kitchener Rangers.

They scored early, and often, and whipped the Niagara IceDogs 6-0 Wednesday night at the Meridian Centre.

Givani Smith got things started just 44 seconds into the game with his third goal in four games as a Ranger.

“We’ve been on the other side of that too many times,” pointed out Kitchener head coach Jay McKee. “It gets guys going. You get that momentum. We know on the flipside of that, it deflates the bench a little bit.”

Riley Damiani was exceptional all night giving the IceDogs’ defence fits, leading the Rangers with a goal and two assists and was a team-high plus-three.

It wasn’t a perfect game for the East Ave blue, who sit second in the Western Conference.

“We took too many penalties,” said McKee after the penalty kill went 7-for-7. “[It] was exceptional. They’ve been working hard in practice, and paying attention to detail. We didn’t give up a lot of Grade A [chances.]”

To be successful shorthanded, they say your goaltender has to be your best penalty killer. Mario Culina picked up his first career shutout in just his third start with his new club.

“It raises my confidence, but I can’t be satisfied. I need to keep working hard, and take it one game at a time,” said the netminder who’s undefeated as a Ranger. “I felt pretty good in warmups. I knew I was feeling the puck good, it carried into the game and the guys made my night easy.”

The team didn’t need much, but the Rangers managed offence in just about every way possible, scoring three times 5-on-5, Adam Mascherin wristed home a power play marker, Eric Guest converted shorthanded and Kole Sherwood made good on a first-period penalty shot.

Mascherin took a hard hit in the second behind the net, which earned Kitchener a power play.

“I’m all good,” smiled the 30-goal scorer, who’s now just five away from his total in each of the last two years. He’s excited to break his career high.

“That’s the question I’ve been getting a lot. Two years in a row I’ve got 35, like come on,” laughed Mascherin. “Hopefully this year is the year. I’m just excited things are going well for us. We’re sitting in second, you can’t complain.”

The Rangers turn their attention to two games at home this weekend. They host Erie Friday, and Guelph Sunday afternoon.