The Kitchener Rangers headed out on their first road trip of the season. They had an embarrassing loss at their first stop, lost 3-0 to the Flint Firebirds. Friday they headed north for one match with the Salt Ste. Marie Greyhoundsbefore having to head back south of the border to Saginaw on Saturday for a game against the Spirit.
The Rangers got off to a strong start in the first twenty minutes against the Firebirds on Wednesday. However, they followed it up with their two worst spells of the season. Unfortunately, it was a similar story again on Friday.
Summary of the game
From the first drop of puck you could tell the Blueshirts were working. They started the game by dumping the puck in. The Greyhounds were able to absorb the initial pressure. However, after the Rangers’ first line change, they got new legs on the ice and came up with more dump-and-chase pressure, which led to Cameron Arquette burying the game’s first goal.
They kept up the pressure for the rest of the period and were rewarded again when Matthew Hlacar drove to the net and forced a rebound, which Jack LaBrash tapped in for his first goal of the season.
They added one more with just over 30 seconds left in the period to extend the lead to three after Arquette’s second goal of the game, which he tapped into a wide open cage after being set up on two beautiful passes from Haeden Ellis and Christian Humphreys.
The Greyhounds finally got on the board six minutes into the second period after their first shot of the frame. Schaubel got a piece of Quinn McKenzie’s shot from the left circle. However, it seeped past him and was probably the one he wanted back.
This was the only goal of the period until Hlacar was ejected from the match due to a much late and dangerous strike, earning him a five-minute major. Shortly after the long kill began, Andrew MacNeil cleared the puck from the defensive zone and beat the Greyhounds goaltender from nearly 60 yards out.
However, the Greyhounds responded almost immediately on a great cross-ice seam pass where Chase Reid found Marco Mignosa for a one-timer. The power play goal allowed the Soo to climb back into the final frame within two seconds.
The Rangers did a good job killing the rest of the big penalty in the third. But the Soo kept attacking and with an opportunity outside the rush, Travis Hayes tapped in a beautiful pass from McKenzie. The goal brought them within one with fifteen minutes to play.
The Greyhounds then scored their third straight unanswered goal, after a failed clearing attempt that saw Christopher Brown jump all the way over. He then found Mignosa, who caught several Rangers napping, leaving Chase Reid wide open in the slot, who beat Schaubel cleanly. This goal tied the game at 4-4 and forced overtime.
The match winner came from a hard-working effort from McKenzie for his second goal of the match, beating a lazy control attempt from a Rangers defender and setting up a nice move for Schaubel to round off the three-goal comeback win.
Rangers struggling to play the full 60 minutes of the game
Just like in Flint, the Rangers dominated the first period. They were ferocious up front, taking pucks and driving to the net. This led to their 3-0 lead and was the second straight game that they controlled the majority of the scoring opportunities in the first period, something they struggled to do during the first two games of the season.
After outscoring the Greyhounds 13–6 in the first period, captain Cameron Reid said, “Just keep working hard, I think we’ve taken our foot off the accelerator,” when asked what the Rangers needed to change to get a better result than they did against the Firebirds.
After this comment, the Rangers were defeated 4-1 and were given a 23-14 lead the rest of the way. The pre-control pressure that worked so well in the first one was lost. They became undisciplined, which made it difficult for them to regain control of the match as they had to play with too few players for almost nine of the last 40 minutes.
Andrew MacNiel scores first OHL goal
Andrew MacNiel scored his first goal in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in his 45th career game, or 58th if you count playoff appearances. It came short-handed and out of the Rangers’ own defensive zone. Truly a fitting first goal for a man who takes so much pride in playing the shutdown role on the Rangers blue line.
With a goal and two assists this season, the Montreal Canadiens’ 2025 sixth-round draft pick has already matched his point total from last season. Even in the loss to the Greyhounds, MacNiel had another excellent game. He finished plus-2 and had four shots on net, leading the team.
On defense, he is so good at keeping attackers out and using his body to separate the puck from the puck carriers along the wall. That, along with the clean movement of the puck, was clearly noticeable on Friday evening.
Aside from the goal, his other highlight of the night was chasing down and eliminating a Greyhound breakaway opportunity early in the third period.
Haeden Ellis and Cameron Arquette stay warm
It was another two-goal night for Cameron Arquette, his second multi-goal game of the season. After seven games he has now scored seven goals and has nine points, incredible numbers considering he scored eight goals and 15 points in 53 games last season.
Haeden Ellis had the key assist on both of Arquette’s goals against the Greyhounds. He also had a third assist on LaBrash’s goal. He now has three goals and six assists in seven games, matching his total from his 36 appearances for Rangers last season.
Everyone expected these two to have a more impressive season. However, it would have been difficult to predict this level of production. Both are tied for the top 10 in points in the OHL, and both rank in the top 25 in terms of points per game (via QuantHockey).
Christian Humphreys has also been playing very well between these two guys since returning from Colorado Avalanche training camp, with seven points in five games, including two assists against the Greyhounds. This line came out and set the tone, creating scoring opportunities all night.
Glass half full
The Rangers have lost consecutive games, after being eliminated by the Firebirds, who had allowed four goals in their previous five games to start the season. Now they smothered a three-goal lead to the Greyhounds. This defeat makes it the fourth time in seven games that Rangers have conceded three goals in a row in one game.
They really struggle to play 60 minutes of hockey. The positive side, however, is that we have seen the dominance of this team. The third period comeback to erase a three-goal deficit against the Brantford Bulldogs, scoring two goals in two minutes against the Erie Otters and then three goals in five minutes in their next match against the Otters. They also scored two goals in the final two minutes in both matches against the Owen Sound Attack.
Related: 3 takeaways from Kitchener Rangers’ 4-3 win over Owen Sound Attack
Then they took a three-goal lead against the Greyhounds. If the Rangers can turn these dominant periods into dominant games and play at their best for 60 minutes, there aren’t many teams that can compete. But right now we don’t see that.
The Rangers will get a chance to bounce back Saturday when they travel to Saginaw to face the Spirit as the final stop on their first road trip.
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