Knights at Rangers – 7:30 p.m., Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
Broadcast: 7:00 p.m. – Listen on AM980 or the Radioplayer Canada app
Where the teams sit
Both teams are currently on decent runs. The London Knights have won four of their past five games, while the Rangers have won four of their past six. Take away losses to the Owen Sound Attack, and these teams are downright hot, with a combined one loss in nine.
London will have Tyler Parsons back in goal. Parsons has missed almost a month with an upper-body injury and a bout with the flu. Tyler Johnson and Jordan Kooy have filled in nicely in his absence, limiting the Knights’ opposition to two goals or less in more than half of the games Parsons missed.
Any time you can put a Memorial Cup champion and a World Juniors gold medalist in your crease, your team’s confidence can’t help but go up.
The Rangers are on the other side of the puck. Their number-one goalie, Luke Opilka, has been diagnosed with a concussion and is out indefinitely. Still, 17-year old Luke Richardson has taken over for Kitchener and the team has knocked off victories over Niagara, Guelph and Oshawa in their last three games.
The season series so far
The clubs have played have been five games between them since October, the first two decided by just one goal. London has outscored Kitchener 17-5 in those meetings. Two of those games came after the OHL trade deadline, when the Rangers made moves with the future in mind.
Knights captain J.J. Piccinich, leading scorer Cliff Pu, and NHL draft prospect Robert Thomas have led the way offensively for the Knights in games against Kitchener, combining for 25 points.
London has managed to limit Kitchener’s top players, with Adam Maschein held to two goals and an assist. Given that the Florida Panthers’ draft pick averages 1.6 points per game, that’s quite the feat.
The match-up
The London Knights have a 12-game winning streak against the Rangers if you count the regular season and playoffs, so Kitchener will be out to put an end to that and send a clear message just in case a playoff meeting results this spring.
As it stands, both teams have a whole lot to play for as they square off tonight. Overtime losses by Owen Sound and Sault Ste. Marie on Thursday moved both teams to within one point of the Knights in the standings. The Greyhounds aren’t as much of a concern because either that team or the Spitfires will win the West Division and secure the number-two seed for the playoffs, but the other team will more than likely be a tough first-round opponent. They will be sitting in wait for whoever finishes third in the mid-west in the 4-vs.-5 match-up.
Kitchener seems secure in sixth, but the Flint Firebirds have crept to within five points of the Rangers.
Kitchener’s power play ranks fifth and has been a threat. Perhaps the best story out of both the power play and the Rangers’ roster is Joseph Garreffa. He is all of 5’7 and 170 pounds and is second in team scoring and a major spark when on the ice.
One More Story
If the season were to end with the OHL standings the way they are now, London and Kitchener would meet in a playoff series for the fifth time in six years.
They missed out on going five-for-five in 2014 when the Rangers missed the playoffs and selected Mascherin second overall.
London fans headed to the game may want to keep any playoff memories to themselves. The Knights have won all four of the series during the streak by a combined 16-3.
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