KELOWNA, BC – Coming into tonight, this was the most highly anticipated match of the entire tournament between the two Memorial Cup favourites. While the first half of the game held true to that narrative, the last half saw the Kitchener Rangers take control, build a hefty lead, and defend well enough to protect it and secure the 6-2 victory over the Everett Silvertips.

The Rangers captain, Cameron Reid, got the scoring going less than five minutes into the game, with Jack Pridham doubling their lead halfway through the first period. Matias Vanhanen got the Silvertips to within one, but the scoreline would remain 2-1 after the first 20 minutes. Rylan Gould tied the game for the Silvertips halfway through the second, but then the Rangers’ fury came.

Just like they did in the opening game of the tournament against the Kelowna Rockets, the Rangers scored three goals within a five-minute span. Christian Humphreys responded just over a minute after Gould’s goal. Then, three minutes later, Vancouver Canucks prospect Gabe Chiarot found himself in the right place at the right time to restore the Rangers’ two-goal lead.

But it was Pridham’s second goal of the game that put the nail in the coffin just over a minute later. The Silvertips continued to press, but Rangers netminder Christian Kirsch stood tall, making 13 third-period saves and not allowing another goal. Instead, Canucks’ Chiarot found Cameron Arquette late in the third to make the final scoreline 6-2.

And of course, we have to mention there was a rock’em, sock’em style of fight tonight between Andrew McNeil and Jaxsin Vaughan. If you haven’t seen the incredible camera angle from the on-ice cameraman, check it out below:

KIT 1-0: Cameron Reid (1), from Matthew Andonovski (1).

KIT 2-0: Jack Pridham (2), from Sam O’Reilly (1) and Dylan Edwards (2).

EVT 2-1: Matias Vanhanen (2), from Rylan Gould (2) and Landon DuPont (2).

EVT 2-2: Rylan Gould (1), from Lukas Kaplan (1) and Luke Vlooswyk (1).

KIT 3-2: Christian Humphreys (1), from Cameron Reid (2) and Cameron Arquette (1).

KIT 4-2: Gabriel Chiarot (1), from Haeden Ellis (1) and Cameron Reid (3).

KIT 5-2: Jack Pridham (3), from Luca Romano (2) and Cameron Reid (4).

KIT 6-2: Cameron Arquette (1), from Gabriel Chiarot (1) and Matthew Andonovski (2).

Despite the Rangers coming out and scoring the first two goals of the game 10 minutes into the first period, Kitchener head coach Jussi Ahokas did not like their first:

“Really tough game. That was a really good team we played against,” Ahokas said. “I think we got better as the game went on. I didn’t like our first period. After that, the second and third, I thought we played a lot better. … All in all, I thought our team did a good job. We haven’t faced a team like this, but I think we learned when the game went on.”

Ahokas seemed to rely on just his top two lines to start the game. It seemed as though the first and second lines continued to alternate shifts until Ahokas made an adjustment, moving Chiarot down to the third line and elevating Humphreys to the top line with O’Reilly and Edwards. Once they were able to roll with three lines, everybody on the Rangers’ offence benefited from it. The Rangers are a team that thrives on the counterattack. They get out to an early lead, sit on it, wait until their opposition attacks and makes a mistake, and pounce – as they did their three quick second-period goals.

Christian Kirsch has to be the most valuable player of the tournament thus far. He had a 24-save shutout Friday night and responded with a 40-save outing tonight against a much tougher opponent in the Silvertips. With a win on Tuesday against Chicoutimi, Kitchener will secure its spot in the Memorial Cup final.

Looking at the shot count doesn’t tell the true story of the night. Score effects come into play, while also keeping in mind that the Silvertips like to throw everything on net, regardless of the quality of the shot. Oddly enough, Silvertips head coach Steve Hamilton shared the same sentiment as Ahokas, that his team had a good first despite trailing in the goal department:

“Just turnovers,” Hamilton said when asked what went wrong tonight. “I mean, we played a little bit on our heels, and not the poise that we showed in the first; the patience, picking the right play, moving our feet, keeping the rink long. We shortened up a bit, and they had some pretty Grade-A looks. It’s not a team we want to be giving a ton of Grade-A looks to.”

After such a successful season, the Silvertips haven’t dealt with much adversity. They’ve lost just five games since January 1. So, when they allowed those quick goals, the team showed frustration, which affected their on-ice play. However, Hamilton is not concerned about his group heading into a pivotal game against the Rockets on Wednesday:

“We had some problems, and some puck management problems, and those things happen. They happen in real time, and these are young men, and they’re nobody’s intent on making mistakes, but they happen. … I trust these guys wholeheartedly. I believe in them. I’ll tell you, I’ll sleep okay tonight. I just know the response that we’ll get from these guys. I just trust them. I think they trust each other. So when you miss the mark, you learn from them. When you miss the mark, you figure things out.”

The Rangers captain was one of our players to watch in our pre-game preview, and boy, did he deliver. Reid scored the opening goal of the game with a rush down the left wing – a goal that Anders Miller likely wants back – and had his hand in all three of the quick second-period goals, picking up assists on them all. He finished the game with a goal, three assists, three shots on goal and a plus-4 rating. The captain came to play tonight.

It seems cheap to pick one of the two Silvertips goal scorers as a player who stood out, but he was the main play driver on a top line that consists of first- and second-round NHL draft picks. That trio had some excellent scoring chances, but he was the primary distributor and the leading cause of most of their offensive-zone success. Vanhanen still finished with a minus-2 rating, but had the goal and led the entire game with seven shots on net.

The Canucks prospect picked up his first two points of the Memorial Cup, scoring the fourth goal and picking up an assist on the Rangers’ final goal of the game, despite being dropped to the third line. Chiarot came as advertised; he used his speed, laid the body, and, as he did against the Rockets, finished with a plus-2 rating and three shots on goal.

Chiarot shared with CanucksArmy that it’s a great feeling to now be able to call himself a Memorial Cup goal scorer, but he is happier that they won and now has his eyes set on punching his ticket to the Memorial Cup final with a win over Chicoutimi: “We’re not going to take anyone lightly. We know Chicoutimi’s a good team, if we do the same thing we did tonight, and we’ll be good for tomorrow.”