Rangers eliminate Erie, move on to second round against London

The Kitchener Rangers needed an extra period for a third time in their first round playoff series against the Erie Otters Tuesday night.

Erie proved to be a tough team to put away not just in Game 6 from Erie, Pennsylvania but throughout the entire first round playoff series between the two clubs.

The Rangers held a 3-1 lead through the second period, getting two goals from Eduard Šalé and one goal from Trent Swick. The Otters were able to come back from that deficit and tie it at three. One goal came in the second period from Otters’ forward Carey Terrance. The tying goal from Otters’ forward Pano Fimis came with just over three minutes left to play in the third period after the Rangers took a delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass. The puck bounced off of Rangers’ defenseman Simon Motew’s skate and in the back of the net.

Luke Ellinas played his version of Rangers hero in overtime where he had a partial breakaway at 5:38 roofing the puck on goaltender Benjamin Gaudreau and sending the Rangers into the second round.

Head Coach Jussi Ahokas said it was a tough playoff series against the Otters.

“It’s a relief,” said Ahokas post-game. “Jobs not done. I think all-in-all, we started to play better the last two games. We had a good start to the series but we really started to know what a playoff series is like. Their first line was really good, they gave a hell of a matchup for us. Erie played really well, they are a good rush team and they are well-coached. They were tight games but we really deserved to go forward.”

Ahokas said the difference in the series to him was the Rangers taking care of the puck better as the series progressed.

“We started managing pucks better in the end,” he said. “Our defense took away quite a few of their odd-man rushes that they had. Ellinas was a big player for us in this series. He stepped up his game and good defending from the team.”

Jackson Parsons made 29 saves in the win. The Rangers win the series 4-2. They will take on London next in the second round of the 2024 OHL playoffs.

Ahokas adds that he thinks the series with London will be a great series.

“It happens if you play a little bit longer then you play quite soon,” he said. “We’re ready. Tomorrow we rest, do some meetings and recovery work and then we are ready to go again.”

You can listen to Tuesday’s episode of Rangers Talk here.

Below is the second round playoff schedule.

• Game 1 – Thursday, Apr. 11 at 7 p.m. in London
• Game 2 – Saturday, Apr. 13 at 4 p.m. in London
• Game 3 – Tuesday, Apr. 16 at 7 p.m. in Kitchener
• Game 4 – Thursday, Apr. 18 at 7 p.m. in Kitchener
• Game 5 – Friday, Apr. 19 at 7 p.m. in London **If Necessary
• Game 6 – Sunday, Apr. 21 at 2 p.m. in Kitchener **If Necessary
• Game 7 – Tuesday, Apr. 23 at 7 p.m. in London **If Necessary

Game 1 between the Knights and Rangers will go on Thursday night from Budweiser Gardens. Catch the game on CityNews 570 starting with the pre-game show at 6:35 p.m., puck drop is set for 7 p.m.