Too Little Too Late in 5-goal output for the IceDogs
ST. CATHARINES, ON – Another strong effort by the IceDogs this weekend wasn’t enough to earn a point on home ice in front of 4,913 fans at the Meridian Centre after a 5-goal output including a late goal from Declan Waddick.
Starting Goaltenders: Josh Rosenzweig (NIAG), Marcus Vandenberg (KIT)
1st Period
The Rangers would get on the board first this evening as Montreal Canadiens prospect Filip Mesar would find Schmidt at the point and would take a shot that found its way through Rosenzweig with traffic in front of the IceDogs net.
Jacob LeBlanc would draw a penalty leading to a the IceDogs first man advantage of the night, which would result in Declan Waddick finding Zak Lavoie on the right circle who fired in his team leading 18th of the season to even the game up.
Teams would skate four on four late in the period and a big save by Rosenzweig would result in the rebound being potted in by Los Angeles Kings prospect Francesco Pinelli, which gave the Rangers the lead once again.
David Jesus would steal the puck, jump in on the rush, and fire one top shelf for the defenseman’s 2nd goal of the season just before the end of the period tying the game for the home side. Shots at the end of the period favoured Kitchener by a slight 11-10 advantage.
2nd Period
The IceDogs would have a goal called back for an offside as Declan Waddick’s goal was overturned due to Zak Lavoie’s foot being offside on the play, which kept the game tied.
Mitchell Martin would finish the passing play from Arcuri and Pinelli with a shot that beat a sprawling Rosenzweig to give the Rangers the lead. A good response by the IceDogs on the next shift as Zak Lavoie would pick up the loose puck and find Kevin He who buried his 14th goal of the season on the glove side of Vandenberg to even up the game once again.
Kitchener would take the lead back before the end of the period as an odd man rush cross ice pass from Rehkopf found Sop who beat Rosenzweig cutting to his left for the goal. Shots at the end of the period favoured the visitors by a 30-16 total.
3rd Period
No scoring through the first half of the period until a hard-working IceDogs shift resulted in Declan Waddick tying the game up 4-4 thanks to his 17th goal of the season past Vandenberg, who was scrambling to find the puck.
Two big saves by Rosenzweig but a loose puck was knocked in the open net by Hunter Brzustewicz battling with Daniel Michaud in the crease that gave the Rangers the lead right back again.
Rangers Carson Rehkopf would seal it as he swept the puck past Rosenzweig to extend the Kitchener lead to two goals. Declan Waddick would find the back of the net for his 2nd of the night in the dying seconds to get the IceDogs back within a goal, which was just a bit too little too late. Shots 46-35 in favour of the visitors.
Niagara will be back on home ice for a rare Tuesday Night home game vs the rival Hamilton Bulldogs, in a rematch from this weekend.
Three Stars
- NIAG Declan Waddick (2 goals, 1 assist)
- KIT Carson Rehkopf (Game Winning Goal, 2 assists)
- NIAG Alex Assadourian (3 assists)
Goal Scorers
First Period
- KIT R. Schmidt (3) A: Mesar, D. Zhilkin 8:56
- NIAG Z. Lavoie (18) A: D. Waddick, A. Assadourian PP 11:13
- KIT F. Pinelli, H. Brzustewicz, F. Mesar 17:47
- NIAG D. Jesus 19:20
Second Period
- KIT M. Martin (10) A: F. Arcuri, F. Pinelli 12:03
- NIAG K. He (14) A: Z. Lavoie, A. Assadourian 12:39
- KIT M. Sop (11) C. Rehkopf, S. Motew 17:11
Third Period
- NIAG D. Waddick (17) A: D. Michaud, A. LeBlanc 10:54
- KIT H. Brzustewicz (4) A: M. Sop, C. Rehkopf 12:59
- NIAG D. Waddick (18) 19:53
