If it wasn’t obvious following the first two games, Monday night proved that the Ontario Hockey League’s Western Conference final wasn’t going to be easy for the Soo Greyhounds.
The Kitchener Rangers got back into the series Monday thanks to a 3-0 win over the Greyhounds at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
It was a night when the Greyhounds felt they made things easy on Rangers goaltender Mario Culina.
“I think I could have played in net and got a shutout for the Kitchener Rangers,” Bannister said during the league’s post-game media conference. “Offensively, we made it easy on him. There was no traffic in front of him. We had no support for loose pucks. We lost a lot of loose-puck battles in the offensive zone. We’ve got to do a better job of recovering pucks and spreading them out.”
Culina made 24 saves to pick up the shutout.
“I felt good,” Culina said. “Our guys did a really good job keeping shots to the outside and made my night easy.”
Pleased with the start, the Greyhounds struggled offensively in the contest, making things difficult.
“For the first time in the series, we had a really good start,” Bannister said. “It was a tight game right until the end.
“At the end of the day, our inability to create offence five-on-five and our inability to score on the power play was the difference,” Bannister added.
Bannister also said he wasn’t surprised to see a better effort from the Rangers “but on our part, we expect more.”
He would go on to say the team would need to be better offensively for game four on Wednesday night.
“If you’re creating offence, you’re spending less time in your own zone,” Bannister said. “There’s a lot less pressure on your defence and a lot less pressure on your goalie.
The Rangers opened the scoring in the first minute of the second period as Riley Damiani beat Matthew Villalta from the slot after a give-and-go with Greg Meireles. Kole Sherwood made it 2-0 early in the third period after he scored on a loose puck after Logan Brown’s initial shot bounce off the end boards into the left faceoff circle. Nick McHugh capped off the scoring with an empty net goal with 1:51 to go in the third.
Rookie defenceman Michael Vukojevic assisted on all three Rangers goals.
“It was a good team win,” Rangers Coach Jay McKee said. “We caught the Sault on an off night. We know that they can play better than they did. We have a lot of respect for that team and we’re going to see a better team in two nights.”
Villalta made 37 saves for the Greyhounds.
In the Eastern Conference final, the Hamilton Bulldogs took a 3-0 series lead on the Kingston Frontenacs thanks to a 3-1 win in Kingston on Sunday night. Kaden Fulcher made 30 saves for the Bulldogs while Marian Studenic assisted on a pair of goals. Game four is Tuesday night in Kingston.