Andrew MacNiel scored his first two career OHL playoff goals as Kitchener won game one of the OHL championship series over Barrie.
The 2026 OHL championship series kicked off Wednesday night, and it was a good night for the home side, with the Kitchener Rangers picking up a 5-2 victory at the Aud.
It was a game where the depth showed up, including the unlikeliest of heroes scoring a pair, including the game winner.
Here's the story from game one.
Barrie (2) - Kitchener (5)
Andrew MacNiel's double pushed the Rangers past the Colts in game one. (Photo: Natalie Shaver/OHL Images)The championship series is where heroes are made, and players step up to have memorable moments.
That being said, not even Andrew MacNiel could've thought what he accomplished in game one was going to happen when he entered the arena on Wednesday.
The Montreal Canadiens prospect opened the scoring with his first career playoff goal halfway through the first, which ended up being the lone goal of the opening frame.
Ben Wilmott got Barrie on the board early in the second, before Dylan Edwards' 12th of the postseason gave the Rangers the lead back. It would be Wilmott again, though, who tied the game back up at two, late on in the second.
The second intermission came 51 seconds early in game one after a scary looking leg injury to Barrie's Joe Salandra after a collision in open ice with Rangers captain Cameron Reid forced the Colts forward off the ice on a stretcher, and off to the hospital.
Since there needed to be an ambulance on site at all times during the game, the teams took the intermission early to give the new emergency vehicle time to get to the arena. The 51 seconds were played out at the start of the third before the horn went and the teams switched ends.
In the third, the man of the night doubled down. It was MacNiel, who had two OHL goals in his entire career entering Wednesday's contest, whose point shot beat Ben Hrebik, and gave the Rangers the lead back.
The usually-defensive Kitchener depth blue liner equalled his entire career goal total in one game, and it just happened to be the arguably biggest one of his career. Not a bad time to do it.
The Rangers would get some insurance through Cameron Arquette soon after, and a Sam O'Reilly empty netter iced game one for the home side.
Christian Kirsch made 25 stops to pick up the win, and Kitchener goes home with a big series lead, and one step closer to the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
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