Kitchener, Ont. – Both Carson Rehkopf and Joseph Serpa recorded four-point nights and six different players found the back of the net for the Rangers in an 8-4 victory over the visiting Erie Otters in front of 5,756 fans at the Aud Sunday. The eight goals scored by Kitchener was the most since Dec. 10 2021 when Kitchener scored nine against Sarnia at The Aud. Kitchener outshot Erie 49-20, Hunter Brzustewicz recorded his first OHL goal and Justin Bottineau tallied his first OHL point in the win.
Kitchener tested the OHL’s third ranked penalty kill early in the first period. Carson Rehkopf broke the ice giving Kitchener a 1-0 lead 4:43 into the game. Joseph Serpa faked a shot before sliding the puck to the top of the right circle for Rehkopf to rip a shot far side into the top corner.
38 seconds after the goal, Kitchener took their first minor penalty. Erie didn’t take long to tie the game 1-1. At 8:58, with 25 seconds left in the penalty, a point shot from Christian Kyrou (Dallas Stars) was tipped in front by Carey Terrance beating Marco Costantini.
Some more penalty trouble for Erie opened the flood gates for Kitchener late in the first period. The Blueshirts exploded for three unanswered goals to finish the period. The second 5-on-3 advantage for Kitchener was only 24 seconds, but they only needed 20 seconds to re-take the lead. At 11:32, Matthew Sop collected the puck in the left corner, skated towards the net and found Valade in front spinning off his man to open-up for a one-time shot. His shot beat Nolan Lalonde glove side waist high. 34 seconds after that, and still on the man-advantage, a redirected shot was stopped by Nolan Lalonde, but the rebound fell in front of the crease for Joseph Serpa to collect his 10th goal of the season. Finally, Jesse Fishman completed the scoring in the first trailing behind Joseph Serpa skating to the net and a drop pass was shoved between the right post and body of Nolan Lalonde.
The score was 4-1 for Kitchener after 20 and shots heavily favoured the Rangers 22-5.
It was another impressive offensive showing for the Rangers in the middle frame, outscoring the Otters 3-1. Kitchener added three more unanswered goals making it six unanswered in the game. Just over five minutes into the period, Justin Bottineau stopped in behind the net and found Carson Rehkopf to one-time a shot under the glove of Nolan Lalond for his second of the game. The primary assist by Justin Bottineau was the first OHL point of his career.
49 seconds after that, Trent Swick collected the puck at the Erie blueline along the Kitchener Ranger bench for a breakaway. Trent faked a wrist shot and pulled a backhand around the outstretched Otter goaltender. Then at the midway point of the second period, a beautiful tic-tac-toe play by Kyle Morey and Filip Mešar (Montréal Canadiens) was finished off by a barrelling Hunter Brzustewicz skating into the slot to one-time a shot into the bottom left corner.
That goal chased Erie Otter goalie Nolan Lalonde for Kyle Downey. At 12:15 of the second period Erie stole a goal back on another deflected point shot. This time a Malcome Spence shot was redirected through the arm of Marco Costantini for Dylan Edwards’ first goal of the season. With under five minutes to go in the period, Erie went to the two-man advantage for 1:48. Kitchener stood strong and killed off both penalties keeping the momentum and the game at 7-2. After 40 minutes Kitchener had the lead in shots 39-14.
An early power-play for the Rangers in the third period created the opportunity for Carson Rehkopf to complete the hattrick. On a pass down to Joseph Serpa below the goal line, followed by right back to Rehkopf who one-timed a shot through the five-hole of Kyle Downey. Erie scored two consolation goals late to make it an 8-4 game. Elias Cohen and Kaleb Smith scoring the goals respectively.
Finals shots in the game ended in favour of the Rangers 49-20. All three stars of the game were earned and awarded to Kitchener skaters. The third star was awarded to Hunter Brzustewciz, recording his first OHL goal and three points in the game. Second star honours was awarded Joseph Serpa with a goal and three assists for a four-point night. The first star of the game was awarded to Carson Rehkopf who recorded his second hat-trick of the season and an assist to cap off a four-point night for him as well.
Next Up: The East Avenue Blue end their four-game homestand with a Western Conference matchup against the Windsor Spitfires this Friday. For the second time in the last four games the Spitfires will take a trip to the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium with puck drop set for 7:30 p.m. Great seats are still available and can be purchased online here.
Photo Credit: Tiffany Luke / Kitchener Rangers
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