The Kitchener Rangers doubled up on the Flint Firebirds 6-3 Saturday night.
But it wasn't quite the start the Rangers were hoping for.
"We looked in the first period like we were on a bus for seven hours today," said Kitchener head coach Jay McKee after the team travelled from Sault Ste. Marie to Flint, Michigan.
The coaching staff addressed the issue in the first intermission, but the Rangers found themselves down 2-0 just 62 seconds into the middle frame.
Before the third though, Kitchener had a 3-2 lead.
"We generated the type of offence we wanted; we got pucks to the net," said McKee. "Take away that first and I thought it was a decent game. I still think we can be cleaner defensively and not be giving up as much."
Riley Damiani left the game in the third period with what looked like an upper body injury, but returned a few minutes later and added two goals and an assist.
"I came back on the bench and told Greg [Meireles], 'I had a little hangnail.' Birky [Cory Birk], our trainer, ripped it off and I got back in the game," said the Dallas Stars' fourth-rounder sarcastically. "I knew I needed to make an impact. I wasn't very good leading up to it and then coming back, something came over me and I just tried to take control."
Rickard Hugg continues to dominate on Saturdays. He had a trio of points in the Rangers win. In the last three games Kitchener has played on a Saturday, Hugg has earned a total of eight points.
"I guess every game should be on Saturday," laughed the Swedish forward. "We had a tough video session before the game. We had a bad game in The Soo. It was good to see what we did wrong, and I thought we bounced back really well in the second and third."
Lucas Pfeil earned his first OHL win, stopping 28 shots.
"I'm proud of him," said McKee. "In the second period he came up with a couple big saves to keep it tight. The goals they had we had some breakdowns with our defence. He's given us a chance to win the games he's played."
