Rangers swept by Knights in second round series

The Kitchener Rangers season has come to an end.

The home team was looking to avoid the series sweep at The Aud on Thursday night against the visiting London Knights.

London struck early, with Jacob Julien tucking one away just 39 seconds into the game.

 

Carson Rehkopf came back swinging for the Rangers, knotting things up in the first period.

However, Julien scored twice more, giving him a hat-trick, and teammate Kasper Halttunen put away one more for London by the end of the second period.

Despite two more Rangers’ goals from Trent Swick, the Rangers couldn’t defeat the Knights, ultimately losing 4-3 to give the Knights the sweep of the best-of-seven series.

London is now off to the OHL Western Conference Finals.

With reporting from CTV Kitchener's Shelby Knox

GAME THREE: Comeback falls short for Rangers as Knights take 3-0 series lead

The Kitchener Rangers are now down 3-0 in their best-of-seven playoff series with the London Knights.

The series came to the Aud Tuesday night after the first two games in London both resulted in losses.

The Knights found the back of the net just 15 seconds into the game and followed it with two more goals to give them a 3-0 lead in the second period.

The Rangers slowly began rallying with scores from Adrian Misaljevic, Trent Swick, and Eduard Šalé, while just giving up one other London goal.

By the time Cameron Mercer scored for Kitchener in the third period, the game was tied up at 4-4.

London then scored two more times in the final frame to give them the 6-4 victory and the 3-0 series leader in the OHL Western Conference semifinals.

GAME TWO: Lopsided win puts London up 2-0 in series with Kitchener

A lopsided win for the London Knights has given them the 2-0 series lead heading back to Kitchener.

The Rangers lone goal in the Saturday afternoon matchup came courtesy of Carson Rehkopf in the first period.

The scored tied things up at the time, but was not followed by any other goals for Kitchener. The visiting Rangers eventually fell 5-1 to the hometown Knights.

GAME ONE: Controversial goal helps London win first game in series with Kitchener

A controversial goal helped the hometown Knights get the game one win of their playoff series with the Rangers.

Kitchener was in London Thursday for the first game of the second-round matchup.

It was a back-and-forth game that saw goals from Luke Ellinas and Eduard Šalé answered by the Knights to tie things up at 2-2 heading into the third period.

It was shortly into the final frame when London scored on a goal that saw the net moved off its moorings.

Max McCue of the Knights tried a wrap-a-round shot from behind where the net was dislodged. Another London player then shot the puck at where the net would have been.

After a lengthy review, the referees determined the puck would have gone in and gave the goal to the Knights, giving them the first lead of the game.

Kitchener's Hunter Brzustewicz scored 29 seconds later to tie it up, but was answered shortly by another London goal. An empty netter at the end gave the Knights the 5-3 victory.

GAME SIX: Kitchener wins series against Erie with third OT victory

For the third and final time in their playoff series with the Erie Otters, The Kitchener Rangers won in overtime.

They resumed their first-round matchup in Erie Tuesday night, four days after Kitchener won in overtime at home.

The Rangers came out in the first period with goals from Eduard Šalé and Filip Mešár to give them a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

Trent Swick exchanged goals with Erie's Carey Terrance to keep Kitchener's lead heading into the third, but a score for the Otters in the final minutes of play sent the game into overtime once more.

It was Luke Ellinas' time to be the hero, as he scored just over five minutes into extra time. This sealed the game six win as well as the OHL Western Conference first-round playoff series victory.

GAME FIVE: Kitchener takes 3-2 series lead after OT thriller

The Rangers needed overtime again to take a thrilling victory at The Aud against the Otters.

The scoring didn't start until the second period, when Tanner Lam netted one for Kitchener. This was followed by two unanswered from Erie into the third period.

Dylan Edwards scored the game-tying goal midway through the third, but it would be Trent Swick who scored the overtime winner to give Kitchener the 3-2 game victory and the 3-2 series lead.

GAME FOUR: Erie ties up series 2-2

The teams returned to the ice for game four on Thursday in Erie.

After the first period, the Rangers led 2-1 with scores from Carson Rehkopf and Filip Mešár.

Luke Ellinas netted another one in the second to keep the lead at 3-2 before the Otters took over in the third.

Erie scored three times throughout the final frame to come away with the 5-3 victory and tie up the series 2-2.

GAME THREE: Kitchener beats Erie 4-3 in overtime

It wasn't an easy path to victory, but the Kitchener Rangers battled back for a playoff win over the Erie Otters.

The two faced off Tuesday evening in Erie for game three of their best-of-seven first round series.

The Otters got off to a hot start in front of their home crowd, scoring three unanswered goals to begin the game.

Adrian Misaljevic and Antonino Pugliese both scored in the second period for Kitchener, followed by a Justin Bottineau goal midway through the third to even things up.

It was Justin Bottineau who played hero again when he netted another goal eight minutes into overtime and sealed the Rangers victory.

GAME TWO: Erie beats Kitchener 7-4

After winning game one against the Erie Otters on Friday, the Kitchener Rangers were in for a battle on Sunday afternoon back at The Aud.

The OHL Western Conference matchup started with two goals from the Rangers in the first period - courtesy of Carson Rehkropf and Matheas Stark - followed by a score from Erie's Pano Fimis.

Malcolm Spence and Sam Alfano gave the Otters the lead before Rehkopf scored again and tied it up at three a piece.

Matthew Sop was able to net one more for the Rangers in the third period, but it was to no avail. Erie netted four more to come away with the 7-4 win.

GAME ONE: Rangers beat Otters 6-3

The Aud was packed Friday for game one of the first-round series against the Erie Otters.

The Rangers never trailed in the matchup, getting out to a 2-1 start in the first period with goals from Luke Ellinas and Matthew Sop.

Ellinas would score again in the second, followed by goals from Eduard Šalé, Max Dirracolo, and Carson Rehkopf in the third.