Rangers bounce back from tough loss with big effort
The Parkland Rangers travelled to beautiful Kenora, Ontario this weekend for a two game set with the Kenora Thistles. The squad managed to return home with three of a possible four points, dropping a 4-3 shootout decision Saturday night before a big 7-1 win on Sunday afternoon. Chase Glover was in between the pipes for both games and stopped 63 of 67 shots he faced from the Thistles shooters to improve his record to 4-3-3 on the season.
Saturday night’s game got off to a bumpy start for the Rangers as they fell behind just over three minutes into the contest. Kenora carried the play for much of the opening frame and Glover’s 11 saves gave Ethan Carnegie time to level the scores at 1-1. Cam Sarna and Cash Clarkson picked up the assists on Carnegie’s third of the season. The teams traded goals in the middle frame with the Rangers twice grabbing one goal leads, only to see Kenora equalize. First, Sarna scrambled home a loose puck with help from Landyn Garton and Tavyn Boychuk to stake the Rangers to their first lead of the weekend. That lasted less than three minutes however as the Thistles benefited from a fortunate bounce to tie things up. Cash Clarkson responded ten minutes later with a wicked wrister through Morgan Blackwood’s legs to restore the Rangers lead. Captain Sam Swanton and Maddox Shindle picked up assists on the play. The guests were able to nurse that lead until the dying seconds of the period when Kenora equalized on a scramble to send the teams into the dressing rooms even at 2-2. The third period and overtime solved nothing despite some heavy pressure from the Rangers. Blackwood was solid in making 42 saves on the night, including 8 in a frantic overtime session. The shootout saw the Rangers Clarkson and Hayden Seib stopped by Blackwood, while Glover was beaten by the second Thistles shooter. Needing a goal to stay alive, Quintin Fisk ripped his shot off the post, off Blackwood’s leg and into the net but the referee ruled it no goal and awarded the game to the hosts. The Rangers picked up one point in defeat and headed to the hotel aggrieved but focused on Sunday’s rematch.
Sunday was all Rangers right from the drop of the puck. Four minutes in, Cade Legaarden scored his first of three goals with help from Cash McCallum. Four minutes later, Sarna bulged the twine to double the lead with Clarkson and Carnegie picking up the assists. The guests weren’t done there however as Seib set up Legaarden for his second of the period to send the teams to the dressing rooms with Parkland up 3-0. Late in the second period, Carnegie buried a Swanton rebound to run the lead to four, but that wasn’t enough for the Rangers. Legaarden completed his hat trick six minutes into the final frame with help from McCallum and Boychuk. Only a minute later, Clarkson ripped home his tenth of the season. Swanton and Garton earned assists on the power play goal. Less than a minute after Clarkson’s goal, Fisk sniped an unassisted marker of his own. The Thistles scored a late power play goal to spoil Glover’s shutout bid, but he still finished with 30 saves in a strong performance.
Rangers Ramblings: Up next for the Rangers is a Tuesday night trip to Shoal Lake to face the Yellowhead Chiefs. Game time is 7:30 pm on FloHockey… The Rangers sit in 10th place at 5-8-3 through 16 games, 2 points back of the 8th place Chiefs… Seib (18), Clarkson (16) and Legaarden (16) are all scoring at a point per game pace or better through the opening 16 games of the season… Former Ranger Riese Gaber, currently serving as the Captain of the UND Fighting Hawks, scored twice on Saturday night in UND’s 5-1 win over Miami-Ohio Redhawks. Gaber has 12 points through 12 games this season… The Brandon Wheat Kings continue to lead the MBU18AAA League standings at 16-0-1, seven points clear of the 13-4-0 Southwest Cougars…