IceDogs Fall to Kitchener in First Pre-Season Matchup

September 4, 2022 – Ontario Hockey League (OHL) – Niagara IceDogs News Release

This afternoon, the IceDogs travelled to Kitchener to take on the Rangers for their first exhibition game to kick off the 2022 pre-season.

The IceDogs went down by 2 goals early on in the first. But not long after, Brenden Sirizzotti answered and roofed it at 5:10 into the first period on the IceDog’s first shot of the game. At the 8-minute mark, Kitchener went to the box and gave the Dogs a power-play chance. Despite coming up short on this, many high-quality chances sparked the Dogs and the momentum shifted in their favour. The score was 2-1 Rangers and shots were 12-9 in their favour after 20 minutes.

Both teams came out firing but eventually, Kitchener extended their lead to 3-1 at 1:35 in. The IceDogs had some good looks at the beginning of the period with multiple opportunities in front of the net but the puck didn’t go their way. An early goal at the start of the period and a 5-on-3 power-play goal later on, put the Rangers up 5-1. A hot goalie for the blue shirts held the Dogs at 1 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period started off with an IceDogs power-play and some good end-to-end action. The IceDogs racked up the shots and held possession in the offensive zone. A rebound after a huge breakaway save found Kitchener up 6-1 in the first half of the period. Eventually, Papais found an opening and answered on an IceDogs 2-man advantage to make it 6-2.

Despite 41 shots on goal for Niagara, Kitchener Rangers ended up on top of this pre-season matchup and took the 6-2 win.

The IceDogs are back in pre-season action tomorrow in Port Colborne VS the Windsor Spitfires at 2:00 PM.

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