A controversial overturned goal in the second period opened the floodgates for the Kitchener Rangers, who rode a dominant special teams performance to a 6-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips.
The Kitchener Rangers rode a wave of second-period controversy and a lethal third-period power play to skate away with a definitive 6-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips.
Kitchener drew first blood at the 5:47 mark when Luke Ellinas buried his first goal of the tournament, capitalizing on slick puck movement from Alexander Bilecki and Haeden Ellis.
Just 28 seconds later, Everett’s Matias Vanhanen sniped his fourth of the tourney past the Kitchener netminder, assisted by Landon DuPont. Kitchener would reclaim the edge before the intermission, however. At 13:15, Dylan Edwards found the back of the net for his second of the campaign, with assists from Sam O'Reilly and Jack Pridham.
With Everett buzzing in the offensive zone, the Silvertips appeared to score the game-tying equalizer, sending their bench into a frenzy. But the celebration was cut short. After an extensive video review, the officiating crew determined that the puck had been intentionally "batted in" by an Everett player's hand.
Kitchener seized the opportunity, turning the emotional swing into tangible damage. At 15:26 of the frame, defenseman Jared Woolley hammered home a heavy shot to extend the Rangers' lead to 3-1. It would ultimately stand as the game-winning tally.
The Rangers would then strike twice on the powerplay, Pridham struck first on the man-advantage, burying his fifth goal of the season to secure the insurance marker. Before the public address announcer could even finish reading the previous goal, O'Reilly struck again on the power play to push the lead to a commanding 5-1.
Everett's Carter Bear would answer back at 2:59 with his fourth goal of the season, assisted by Julius Miettinen and DuPont.
With the Everett net empty late in the game, Kitchener's Christian Humphreys put the exclamation point on the evening, potting a short-handed, empty-net goal at 18:23 to seal the 6-2 final.
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