It was a close battle for most of the game, but the Kitchener Rangers could not hold on against the visiting Ottawa 67’s, dropping Friday’s contest 5-3.
Kitchener got on the board first with a power-play goal from Jakub Chromiak at 5:01 in the first period. But the lead would not last long, as Ottawa’s Jack Dever tied it up 1-1 less than a minute later.
Ottawa took their first lead of the game early in the second with a goal from Ryan White. Matthew Hlacar got the Rangers back into the game with his third goal of the year before the end of the frame, making it 2-2 heading into the third period.
Ottawa then took control of the game, scoring three unanswered goals over a span of seven minutes, taking the 5-2 lead. Christian Humphreys added one more with less than five minutes left in the contest to make it close, but it would not be enough.
After the game, head coach Jussi Ahokas said the team needs to see more effort from all of their lines.
“If you lose, you can’t be happy,” said Ahokas. “Chance wise, I think we might have had a little more, but I thought it was a pretty even game.”
Earlier in the week, the OHL announced the Guelph Storm will host the 2027 Memorial Cup, beating out Kitchener in the bid. Ahokas said he was “devastated” after Kitchener would not play host.
“I was shocked,” said Ahokas. “I knew how much the bid and the how much our organization put into this. To me, it wasn’t fair, but it is what it is. Now, we have to move on and get in the Memorial Cup by winning the (OHL) Championship.”
The Rangers have the day off on Saturday before getting back on the road again for a trip to Oshawa on Sunday.
Puck drop is a 6:05 p.m.
