The Kitchener Rangers opened the 2026 Memorial Cup with a 5–0 shutout over the Kelowna Rockets on Friday night, with a goal from Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Sam O’Reilly, who now has 18 total in the postseason.
The 20-year-old scored once off the rush as Kitchener controlled play throughout the game. O’Reilly is the first player in OHL history to appear in four straight championship series and was named winner of the Wayne Gretzky “99” Award as the most valuable player of the 2026 OHL playoffs after recording 17 goals and 11 assists in 18 playoff games.
Ten months ago, the Lightning acquired O’Reilly from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a first-round pick in the Isaac Howard, a move that is looking to be a good fit. Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois noted O’Reilly’s pro-style game at the end of the season.
“The way he plays the game already, even a small sample we got in training camp, tells me he probably won’t need that much time in order to be able to come here and contribute, because he already plays a pro-style game,” Lightning GM Julien BriseBois said at the end of the season.
“If he can adjust to the pace and the physicality, as soon as he’s got that figured out, I think his game is already so textbook in how he plays,” BriseBois added. “He’s got a really mature game that he carries in every night for his junior team or even the national team.”
Kitchener will play again on Monday night.