The Ottawa 67's edged the Kitchener Rangers 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. Shane Prince scored the game winner for the 67's. Kitchener's Radek Faksa recorded a goal and assist in the loss and continues to lead all league rookies with 42 points this season.
The Rangers opened the scoring when Tobias Rieder collected the puck behind the net and found Ryan Murphy in the slot. The veteran defenseman fired it past Petr Mrazek for his fourth of the season and tenth point in his last four games. Captain Michael Catenacci also assisted on the play.
Midway through the frame, the 67's capitalized on a two-man advantage. League-scoring leader Tyler Toffoli threw the puck on net, jumped on his own rebound and launched it by the glove hand of John Gibson. Cody Ceci and Dalton Smith picked up the assists on the fourth-year forward's 36th of the season. The goal moved Toffoli into fifth place on Ottawa's all-time scoring list.
Tyler Graovac put the 67's ahead with over seven minutes left in the period. Steven Janes forced a turnover near centre ice and rushed in with Graovac, who lifted a shot over Gibson's right pad for his fifth of the year.
Ottawa out-shot the Rangers 14-5 in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The 67's extended their lead to 3-1 near the mid-point of the second period. Toffoli carried the puck into the Rangers' zone and found Sean Monahan in front of the net. His shot cleared the right shoulder of Gibson, giving him his 26th goal of the season.
The Rangers cut the lead to one on the power play. Mrazek stopped the initial shot by Andrew Crescenzi, but Radek Faksa was waiting to the left of the net. He collected the rebound and banked it off an Ottawa player and in for his 20th of the year. The rookie has points in five straight games. Murphy also picked up an assist on the play.
The Rangers held the advantage in shots on goal in the second period, out-shooting Ottawa 14-8.
Kitchener would capitalize on the man-advantage, tying the score at 3-all with just over eight minutes to play. Rieder carried the puck over the blueline and found Crescenzi with a sharp backhand pass. The veteran centre fired from the high slot and beat Mrazek five-hole for his 12th of the season. With his two helpers in the contest, Rieder extended his point streak to four games. Faksa also picked up an assist and leads all league rookies with 42 points.
Shane Prince put Ottawa back in front with four minutes to play. Ceci's cross-crease pass stopped in front of the right skate of Gibson, but Prince was on the doorstep and chipped it in the open side of the net. The former Ranger has 25 goals with the 67's this year.
Kitchener continued to out-shoot the 67's 13-11 in the final period, but Ottawa finished the game with a 33-32 overall advantage.
With the victory, the 67's maintain the top spot in the Eastern Conference with a 29-11-4-1 record. The Rangers sit at 30-13-1-0, in third place in the West.
