The Kitchener Rangers completed a strange double over the Erie Otters, winning 4:3 after losing 3:4 in the previous night's encounter. The result came on 26 September in the Ontario Hockey League, where the visitors took all three points despite having lost the day before. It was a match that didn't go according to plan for those expecting an away victory, but the Rangers found a way back into it when it mattered.
What struck me watching was how quickly the momentum shifted. The Otters started brightly, as they have been doing this season, but the Rangers responded when things came to a head. By then the game had opened up, and the visitors took advantage of the space. It wasn't pretty hockey, but it was effective.
Erie sit fourth in the standings with three games played and two wins, while Kitchener are sixth after four matches with two victories. Neither side has accumulated points yet — the season is barely underway — so these positions mean little beyond showing who has started stronger. What matters more is the form coming into this fixture.
The Otters had beaten the Rangers 4:3 on 25 September, so going into tonight they carried confidence. Kitchener had won their previous game 4:1 against Owen Sound Attack, but they had also lost 0:1 in the match before that. They knew they were on a knife-edge, and tonight they proved it. The support of the fans could be called devoted, but that is an assessment, not a fact. The fact is the visitors took the win.
I'll admit we had given the away side our confidence at 69 per cent, and the prediction didn't materialise. But cup football has its own rules, and hockey is no different — the stronger team doesn't always take the points on a given night. The Otters dominated territory for large spells but couldn't convert their chances, while the Rangers, by then, had one foot in the next round of their own form.
The scoreline doesn't tell the whole story, but neither does it lie. Three goals for Erie, four for Kitchener, and the difference came in the moments that counted. The Rangers are now on a run that suggests they can compete with anyone in this league, and the Otters will need to find a way back into it if they want to stay ahead of the pack.
