A total of 9,962 stuffies hit the ice on Tuesday night at the Aud when Kitchener Rangers captain Francesco Pinelli scored 4:17 into the first period of the team’s clash with the Guelph Storm.
The Rangers were hosting their annual Teddy Bear Toss as a season-high 6,644 fans made the trek to the Aud to watch the home side record a 4-1 victory.
The stuffies are collected after the first goal and then donated to local charities.
Six minutes after Pinell’s goal, Guelph’s Michael Buchinger would find the back of the net to even the score. The two teams would remain deadlocked through 20 minutes.
The score would remain tied until late in the second period when Kitchener’s Filip Mešár would score the eventual game-winner.
The Rangers defenceman would score again just 32 seconds into the third period before Adrian Misaljevic would score his first of the season three minutes later to complete the scoring.
Marcus Vandenberg was in net for the Rangers and he would turn aside 38 shots to record the victory while Guelph’s Jacob Oster was also busy, making 34 saves in a losing cause.
The Rangers will head to Peterborough on Thursday night to face the Petes, a night before the Niagara IceDogs pay a visit to the Aud.