Two goals from Reid Valade helped the Kitchener Rangers top the Spirit in Saginaw on Sunday, snapping a seven-game losing streak that dated back to the end of the Christmas break.
Hunter Haight opened the scoring for the Spirit at the 9:06 mark, giving the home side a short-lived advantage as Valade answered for Kitchener within two minutes.
The Rangers forward would score his 17th of the season at the 18:56 mark which would give Kitchener a 2-1 advantage heading into the second period.
Matyas Sapovaliv answered for Saginaw early in the second period and the game remained deadlocked until Danny Zhilkin would beat Spirit netminder Tristan Lennox to put Kitchener back in front heading into the third period.
The Rangers’ lead would be extended by Mitchell Martin just over five minutes into the third period.
Martin was making just his second start since being sidelined for weeks by injury.
Zayne Parekh would answer for Saginaw with less than two minutes to play but Rangers netminder Marcus Vandenberg closed the door from that point on preserving the victory for Kitchener.
Vandenberg made 34 saves on 37 shots to record the win for the Rangers while Lennox stopped 32 of 36 Rangers shots in a losing effort.
The Rangers will return to action on Tuesday night when they host the London Knights at the Aud.