The Kitchener Rangers overpowered the Everett Silvertips 6-2 to remain undefeated at the Memorial Cup.
The Kitchener Rangers are proving exactly why they steamrolled their way to an OHL Championship.
Facing off against the WHL Champion Everett Silvertips in a highly anticipated heavyweight clash, Kitchener utilized a massive three-goal surge to secure a dominant 6-2 victory on Tuesday night.
Kitchener set the tone immediately. Just 3:05 into the opening frame, Reid found the back of the net off a feed from fellow blueliner Matthew Andonovski to give the Rangers a quick 1-0 lead. The OHL Champions kept their foot on the gas, doubling their advantage at 10:22 when Jack Pridham buried a power-play marker, capitalizing on crisp puck movement from Sam O'Reilly and Dylan Edwards.
Everett’s lethal power play went to work late in the first period, with Finnish standout Matias Vanhanen cutting the deficit to 2-1 at 12:32. The goal was orchestrated by Rylan Gould and superstar defenceman Landon DuPont.
The Silvertips carried that momentum into the second period, successfully erasing Kitchener's lead at the 8:21 mark when Gould scored a goal of his own, assisted by Lukas Kaplan and Luke Vlooswyk, to knot the game at 2-2.
Only 85 seconds after Everett tied it, Kitchener reclaimed the lead for good. At 9:46, Christian Humphreys scored the eventual game-winning goal, set up by Reid and Cameron Arquette. That tally opened the floodgates for a devastating Kitchener onslaught.
At 13:06, Gabriel Chiarot wired home an insurance marker off passes from Haeden Ellis and Reid. Less than 90 seconds later, at 14:23, Pridham struck for his second goal of the night, finishing off a sequence from Luca Romano and Reid to cap off a frantic five-minute stretch that left the Silvertips reeling and trailing 5-2.
The Rangers added a final exclamation point late in the third period. At 17:07, Arquette capped off a multi-point night of his own by burying Kitchener's sixth goal, with Chiarot and Andonovski picking up the assists.
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