The Guelph Storm came out on top of the Kitchener Rangers in a game that wasn’t overly physical but had plenty of emotion.
Charlie Paquette supplied the positive side of that emotion for the Storm scoring twice including the eventual game-winner in a 5-4 victory over the Rangers in Ontario Hockey League action Sunday afternoon at Sleeman Centre.
It was a huge win for the Storm (30-27-6-1) as they are in a battle with the Erie Otters, Flint Firebirds, and the Owen Sound Attack for fifth place in the OHL’s Western Conference.
“We’ve had some games during that bad stretch where we lost three or four late in the game and then in overtime,” said Storm head coach Chad Wiseman. “To be able to reset in the second and respond the way we did in the third and be rewarded is a huge confidence for our group.”
Kitchener (41-22-2-0) appeared to have opened the scoring in the first period when Antonio Pugliese fired a one-timer past Guelph netminder Damian Slavik (26 saves). But it was disallowed after a video review showed the Rangers were offside before the goal being scored.
The Storm were able to snatch the momentum after that call. Paquette and Jake Karabella scored 29 seconds apart in the first period to give Guelph a 2-0 lead.
The Rangers answered back with three straight goals in the second period by Tanner Lam, Luca Romano, and Carson Rehkopf to take a 3-2 lead. But Gavin Grundner tied it up again for the Storm at the 12:29 mark then 1:28 later Cam Allen banked one off the skate of Rangers defender Carson Campbell to put Guelph up 4-3.
“I think it just not letting the highs get too high and lows getting too low,” said Paquette on handling the momentum swings. “We all have believe that we can shut it down when were up.”
Simon Motew tied it up for Kitchener at the 9:31 mark of the third period. Then Max Namestnikov forced a turnover in the Rangers’ end and Paquette took Grundner’s pass from the slot and put it by Jackson Parsons (19 saves) to score his second goal of the game with 1:32 left in the regulation and put the Storm up for good.
“It feels nice to get a couple of goals but it feels better to get the two points,” Paquette said.
The Storm were able to win despite falling down while trying to skate, losing possession of the puck, and inability to make clean passes. There were also some questionable calls and non-calls. But Wiseman liked the way his team handled the adversity.
“At the end of the day, we need to be playing better hockey and we are,” he said. “Our last four or five games have been solid and we had an opportunity to win every game that we played.”
Guelph did not get any power play opportunities while Kitchener did not score on three chances with the man advantage.
The same two teams will meet again Tuesday night, this time at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. You can listen to the game on 1460 CJOY beginning the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.
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