That one wasn’t pretty.
Carson Rehkopf and Francesco Arcuri each scored a pair of goals as the Kitchener Rangers routed the Owen Sound Attack 8-3 Friday night at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, leapfrogging their Midwest Division rival in the Western Conference standings.
The Attack (29-26-4-1) dropped their fourth straight game. Kitchener (30-26-4-0) extended their winning streak to six, and point-streak to seven games.
The Rangers moved one point up on the Attack for seventh in the Western Conference, while also clinching a playoff spot as the Soo Greyhounds fell to Sarnia.
Francesco Pinelli, Mitchell Martin, Adrian Misaljevic and Matthew Sop also scored for Kitchener. Colby Barlow, Sam Sedley and Deni Goure supplied the goals for Owen Sound.
The Attack actually jumped out to the early lead in the game. Barlow forced a turnover near his own blueline and broke up ice on a short-handed breakaway and made no mistake, firing a shot past Marco Constantini blocker side to give Owen Sound a 1-0 lead at 4:05 of the first period.
Rehkopf tied it with a power play marker five minutes later. Then Sop put the home side in front for the first time with 2:28 left in the first, taking the puck himself down the left-wing before moving around defenceman James Petrovski and then a sprawling Taos Jordan to get in on goal. Sop buried his own rebound to make it 2-1.
The Rangers took the game over in the second. Arcuri struck on the power play 44 seconds into the middle frame to make it 3-1.Rehkopf and Martin would add solos before the siren sounded to end the second. Martin’s goal with 37 seconds to go in the period – a point-shot that hit the post and trickled behind Nick Chenard through the crease before being chipped home – was Kitchener’s fifth unanswered.
The Attack broke that run early in the third. Sam Sedley broke his stick on a shot attempt on the power play but the puck carried right through the crease to Goure, who had an open net to stare at and deposited it. 5-2 Rangers.
Two minutes later Misaljevic was the recipient of a nice pass from Justin Bottineau on a 2-on-1, and fired it past Chenard to make it 6-2.
Pinelli scored a low shot at 7:52 of the third to extend the Rangers’ lead to 8-2.
Sedley scored at 14:18 on a bit of an odd play, because the goal was initially waved off. The Attack defenceman – who played at forward Friday night with Kaleb Lawrence and Ben Cormier joining Gavin Bryant and Tomislav Brennan on the sidelines with injuries – had the puck on the left wing and ripped a shot short side over the blocker of Constantini. It hit the near post and deflected out. The goal light went on. The official waved it off.
Play continued for another 52 seconds before the Rangers took a penalty. The Sedley shot was reviewed and it was clear the puck went in, hit the back bar after the near post. The Rangers penalty was negated, but the Attack had their third goal.
Arcuri scored 25 seconds later to restore Kitchener’s five-goal advantage. That was how the night went for Owen Sound.
Constantini made 30 saves in the win, while Chenard stopped 21 taking the loss. The Attack outshot the Rangers 33-29 while going 1 for 3 on the power play; Kitchener finished 3 for 5.
Saturday night, the Attack return home to host the Oshawa Generals (24-30-1-5). Oshawa is also on a four-game skid. Game time is 7:30 p.m., at the Harry Lumley Bayshore Community Centre.
The Attack have dropped five of their past six at home.
PLAYOFF BERTH NEAR DESPITE LOSS
The Attack actually inched closer to a playoff berth Friday night, as the Soo Greyhounds were defeated by Sarnia 6-3.
Seven of the eight playoff spots in the Western Conference are now spoken for, but the positioning isn’t. The Attack need one point, or Soo to surrender a point from here on in to make the postseason trip official. It seems a formality that will come at some point over the next eight games.
STRUGGLING ATTACK STILL IN THICK OF THINGS
Owen Sound still remains in reach of several teams in the Western Conference – and while No. 4 Saginaw and home ice in the first-round looks increasingly out of reach, the fifth spot is right there. Flint (30-26-4-1) currently sits fifth while Guelph (30-27-4-1) is sixth. Both teams have 65 points.
The Rangers (30-26-4-0) have surged into seventh on their strength of a six-game winning streak. They’re one point back of Flint and Guelph.
While it may seem like the sky is falling for Owen Sound right now, they’re still right there. The Attack (29-26-4-1) are in eighth, one point behind Kitchener and only three points out of fifth. They also hold two games in hand on sixth-place Guelph and one in hand on fifth-place Flint.
The gap to Saginaw (33-24-2-2) has become much tougher to overcome. The Attack are seven points behind the Spirit, with one game in hand.
SLOW BLEED?
The Attack fell to their lowest position in the Western Conference of the season with Friday’s loss to Kitchener. It’s been a rough go – four straight losses, nine of their past 12 and 11 of 15. But the below .500 play for Owen Sound has been a much broader trend dating back a few months.
It seems a distant memory now but the Attack led the Midwest Division up until Dec. 4, after a 16-7-1-1 start to the season. They’ve gone 13-19-3-0 since then.
INJURIES, INJURIES
Kaleb Lawrence and Ben Cormier missed Friday’s game against Kitchener. Lawrence is dealing with an upper-body injury and his status moving forward is uncertain. Attack head coach Greg Walters didn’t provide any timeline for his return.
Cormier was hit with a puck in the hand during Wednesday’s loss to North Bay. There’s some swelling. The hope is he’ll be ready to go next week.
Tomislav Brennan and Gavin Bryant both remain out of the lineup. The two have been skating for some time now – Brennan in full gear – and are working their way back. “A couple of weeks” is the expectation for when Brennan and Bryant could be ready to return.
Corbin Votary also remains out with mono. He has been skating as well – and is also targeting a return later this month.