The Kitchener Rangers jumped to sixth place in the Western Conference standings with a 6-1 road victory over the Erie Otters on Wednesday night.
With just a pair of games to play in the regular season, Kitchener is playing its best hockey of the year, having won nine of their past 12 games while picking up 19 of 24 possible points.
The Rangers fell behind early after Otters’ Spencer Sova scored at the 3:50 mark but Rangers netminder Marco Costantini slammed the door from that point forward, saving 25 shots to earn the win.
Rangers captain Francesco Pinelli recorded his third hat trick of the season in the win while Francesco Arcuri, Reid Valade and Carson Rehkopf also found the back of the net.
Kitchener will next play host to the Flint Firebirds on Friday night at the Aud before closing out the season on Sunday with a visit to the London Knights.
The Rangers are currently tied with Guelph for sixth place in the standings, two points behind the Firebirds, so Friday’s contest will have major playoff implications.