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Maxwell Stymies Spits
windsorspitfires.com
In a battle of two of the league's best power plays, it was a third-period goal with the extra man that made the difference.
Tyler Randell's sixth of the season and an outstanding effort by Kitchener goalie Brandon Maxwell were enough for the Rangers to get by the Spits on Wednesday night, in a 3-1 win before 6,541 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
Jason Akeson, the OHL's leading scorer, had a pair of assists for Kitchener (21-8-3-1), who moved three points ahead of Windsor (21-13-0-1) for third in the Western Conference.
Stephen Johnston had the lone goal for Windsor - a beautiful deke off a Michael Whaley rebound that opened the scoring at the 7:32 mark of the first period.
But despite firing 45 shots on the night, they couldn't beat Maxwell again.
The Rangers tied the game late in the second period, as Ryan Murphy picked up a loose puck - off an Akeson chance - and fired it into an empty net as a pair of Spitfires defenders left him alone in front.
All eyes were on Akeson, again, early in the third. The slick winger drew two penalty killers before finding Randell alone in front for the eventual game winner.
The Spitfires had consecutive power play chances in the final 10 minutes. Zack MacQueen hit the post on a deflection during the second advantage, but they couldn't find the equalizer.
Cody Sol added an empty netter with 20 seconds to play, to round out the scoring.
NOTES
The win was Kitchener's 15th at home this season. That's tops in the OHL ... Windsor went 0-for-3 on the power play. Their PK has now killed 31 of the last 34 man advantages...Troy Passingham was outstanding in goal for Windsor, making 29 saves, including several highlight reel stops.
SCORING
FIRST PERIOD
WSR Johnston, (8) (Whaley, Locke), 7:32
SECOND PERIOD
KIT Murphy, (16) (Akeson, Ming), 14:47
THIRD PERIOD
KIT Randell, (6) (Akeson, Doornbosch), 5:14 (PP)
KIT Sol, (2) (Tipoff, Akeson), 19:40 (EN)
