TEACHING MOMENT
Western Conference semifinal a good bet to go the distance with teams evenly matched
Kitchener Rangers assistant coach Dennis Wideman talks to players during practice at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday. The Rangers start their playoff series against the Sarnia Sting in Kitchener on Friday.
KITCHENER — Things are about to change for the Kitchener Rangers.
And this is nothing against the Guelph Storm, who the Blueshirts bested in six games in the opening round of the Ontario Hockey League playoffs.
It’s just that second round foe the Sarnia Sting present different challenges.
“It will be a very different feel to the series,” said Rangers coach Jay McKee, whose club kicks off the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal Friday at the Aud. “Sarnia is a little more in your face.”
So say farewell to those unimpeded defensive entries that helped the Rangers pot a leaguehigh 33 goals in the first round. That roomy neutral zone will also be gone. And that 3-0-0-1 regular-season record against the Sting? It means squat.
“The fact that we had seven out of eight points against them is out the door,” said McKee. “The only thing that does is give us the belief that we can beat them.”
Kitchener owns the higher seed, thanks to their Midwest Division crown, but Sarnia actually had three more wins and seven more points in the standings. Like the Rangers, the Sting had their first round trouble. Lower seeded Windsor pushed them to six games and the hot goaltending of Michael DiPietro stymied Sarnia’s offence.
Skilled forwards Jordan Kyrou and Adam Ruzicka barely saw the scoresheet while Anthony Salinitri only dressed for a pair of games due to injury.
“Basically they won a series without three of their top players,” said McKee.
And that’s a scary prospect for the Rangers.
“They’re physical and skilled and kind of like us,” said Kitchener winger Givani Smith. “I think we’re the better team and we’ll just have to find out.”
Kitchener (2) vs. Sarnia (3)
Offence: Kitchener averaged 5.5 goals per game in the first round which was second best behind the Soo. All four lines contributed while the top unit of Smith, Logan Brown and Kole Sherwood combined for 30 points. Brown led all players with 13 points in the first round of the playoffs while Adam Mascherin (11) and Sherwood (10) were in the top five.
Sarnia’s big guns have been silent. Kyrou finished third overall in OHL scoring with 109 points in the regular season but has two points. Ruzicka — who had 36 goals — has two assists. Don’t expect that to last. The good news, for the Sting, is that the club is getting secondary scoring most notably from Sean Josling and Hugo Leufvenius.
Edge: Rangers
Defence: Logan Stanley has been a beast for the Rangers in terms of minutes played and leadership. But don’t overlook the quiet contributions of Austin McEneny, Kyle Gentles and Giovanni Vallati and the surprising play of rookies Michael Vukojevic and Jack York — who both boast plus-five ratings.
Sarnia’s big four are veterans Cam Dineen, Theo Calves, Mitch Eliot and Connor Schlichting. Of the lot, Dineen — who joined the team from North Bay at the trade deadline — has the most pop.
The crew was exposed at times against the young Spits in the first round.
Edge: Rangers
Goaltending: Kitchener’s Mario Culina has a Memorial Cup ring, but only eight playoff games under his belt. He was stellar in the first two games against Guelph, shaky for the next two and then rebounded to close out the series with confidence.
Justin Fazio’s playoff goals against average is a tidy 2.70. His save percentage — .881 on just 135 shots — is not. He’ll be busier against Kitchener and, despite the so-so playoff performance, was one of the more reliable goalies in the regular season and owns a bigger body of work.
Edge: Sting
Special teams: Kitchener’s power play has seen an uptick from 20.7 per cent in the regular season to 31.6 per cent in the playoffs, which is good for seventh overall. But the team’s penalty killing, which was sharp all season long at 82.9 per cent, has tumbled to 73.9 per cent in the playoffs. The team’s six power play goals against is the most among teams in the second round.
Sarnia’s penalty killing continues to be on point going from an OHL best 88.5 per cent to 90.9 per cent in the playoffs. The Sting had the fifth most lethal power play in the league in the regular season but is a mind blowing 0-for-20 in the playoffs.
Edge: Push
Experience: Kitchener has history on its side. The Rangers edged the Sting in seven games in 1997 and swept them in 2007 and 2008. In 23 years as a franchise, Sarnia has only made it to the second round three times and has never reached a conference final. But when you look at actual post-season caps from this year’s lineups it’s no contest. Sarnia is steeped in playoff experience with Jonathan Ang leading the charge with 30 appearances.
Edge: Sting
Who’s missing? Kitchener’s Vallati was rocked by Guelph’s Nathan Schnarr in Game 6 in the team’s quarter-final seriesclinching win this past Sunday. Vallati had to be helped off the ice and is day-to-day. Veteran blueliner Connor Hall is out with a season-ending shoulder injury. Meanwhile, upper body injuries limited Salinitri and Sarnia defenceman Nick Grima to just two games in Round 1.
The verdict: The series has going-the-distance written all over it. The Rangers did own the season series but all of Kitchener’s wins featured an empty-net goal so they were close. Sarina hasn’t played its best hockey of the playoffs but even if it does, the Rangers should squeak this one out in seven games.