Rangers look to take control of opening playoff series
Posted Apr 3, 2023 02:16:08 AM.
Heading into game one of the first-round series between the Kitchener Rangers and the Windsor Spitfires, there wasn’t too much public optimism about the Rangers’ chances against the #1 seed.
However, only 40 seconds into the game, overage forward Reid Valade rippled the twine to give Kitchener the lead. The Rangers never looked back, taking game one by a score of 5-3 on the road, stunning the Windsor faithful.
When the Mike Farwell Show asked Rangers Head Coach Mike McKenzie if they could have dreamt of a better start to the series, the Rangers bench boss said “probably not.”
‘When you score in the first minute of the game that’s definitely ideal,” said McKenzie. “It was nice to get that one, but we can’t rely on getting the first one every game and we got to be ready no matter what happens in those first five or 10 minutes of the game.”
Tonight at the Windsor Family Credit Union Centre, the Rangers will have an opportunity to come back to Kitchener with a 2-0 series lead. McKenzie believes his club will have to weather a storm early in the contest.
“We’re going to see their best. There’s no doubt about that. They are going to come out guns a-blazing. I fully expect them to respond and really come out hard tonight. We’re going to need to be ready to go and manage that high, and there will be points in the series or playoffs where we will have to manage a low too.”
McKenzie said that the Spitfires are atop the Western Conference standings for a reason, and that one loss is not going to deter them. He added what his team has done leading up to game two.
“Just prepare. We felt like we prepared well for game one and we’re going to do the same for game two. On game day, be ready to go again and just touch some things up. I think the main thing is that we’re ready to play and skate.”
You can catch the pre-game show at 6:30 p.m., 35 minutes before puck drop, on CityNews 570.
