The Kitchener Rangers winless streak continued in Sault Ste. Marie on Wednesday night as they were stymied by a goal from Greyhounds forward Bryce McConnell-Barker in the closing seconds of the contest.
The final score ended up being 5-4 for the home side, as the Rangers have now lost four in a row since the Christmas break ended.
The Rangers were missing six regulars for the contest as defenceman Tomáš Hamara (Czechia) and Filip Mešár (Slovakia) are playing at the 2023 IIHF World Junior.
The team says forwards Ty Hollett, Mitchell Martin and Francesco Pinelli were all out with upper body injuries while defenceman Roman Schmidt was finishing out a two-game suspension.
Simon Motew, Matthew Sop, Trent Swick and newly acquired Danny Zhilkin all found the back of the net for Kitchener while McConnell-Barker scored a pair for the Soo. Andrew Gibson, Kalvyn Watson, and Alex Kostov also beat Rangers goalkeeper Marco Constantino as well.
Constantino turned aside 23 shots to record the loss while Greyhounds netminder Samuel Ivanov also made 23 saves to record the win.
The Rangers will remain on the road as they head to Saginaw next, where they will face the Spirit on Friday night.