The Parkland Rangers embarked on one of their toughest weekends of the season on January 13th and14th and returned home without any points, but not without some positives. The squad dropped a hard-fought 5-3 decision to the 4th placed Winnipeg Wild on Saturday evening before a calamitous 7-1 loss at the 3rd placed Interlake Lightning on Sunday afternoon. The two defeats leave the Rangers in 10th place, 5 points adrift of the final playoff spot but with games in hand on everyone they are chasing.
Saturday’s contest at the Hockey For All Centre in Winnipeg got off to a shaky start for the Rangers when they conceded a shorthanded goal just 2:21 into the game. It was a difficult start that was exacerbated when the Wild scored an even strength marker at the 5:36 mark, leaving the Rangers in an early 2-0 hole. Trailing by a pair and outshot 10-6 after a period, the gusts began to grow into the game in the middle frame, only to have the Wild cash in on a power play at 9:36. With half a game still to be played, the Rangers showed some resilience and battled their way back thanks to a Hayden Seib tally at 17:03 of the second period. Ryzlie Nepinak and Andrew Pidskalny picked up helpers on Seib’s 9th goal of the season. Unfortunately, the momentum was stalled by another Wild power play goal, this one coming just 3:44 into the final period. Undeterred, the Rangers got one back through Cam Sarna with the assist going to Quinten Fisk. The goal at 7:39 of the period kept the Rangers hopes of a comeback alive and Cade Legaarden added fuel to those hopes when he scored at 17:19 with help from Seib and Sarna. Despite some steady pressure and a disallowed goal, the Rangers eventually conceded an empty net goal in the final seconds of the contest to drop a tough 5-3 decision. Ethan Myhre faced 26 shots in the loss while the Rangers managed to direct 26 of their own at the Wild net. The positives in the game were easy to see (unless you were trying to watch on FloHockey!) On that occasion, Parkland didn’t give up the fight despite being three goals down on the road against a strong opponent and left the rink feeling like they had run out of time rather than ideas. The offence snapped out of its new year’s slumber to score three times against a solid defence, with all three goals coming at even strength.
Sunday was a different story for Parkland. Starting the game off short handed due to a warm-up violation, the visitors surrendered a power play goal just 1:13 into the game. Just as play began to level out and the Rangers started to find their footing, they turned a puck over in the neutral zone and surrendered an odd man rush that led to a penalty. The hosts scored their second power play marker of the period at the 10:39 mark to grab a 2-0 lead that was stretched to 3-0 when they cashed in on another odd man rush with just 10 ticks left on the clock. The Rangers continued to look for ways back into the game, but the Lightning managed to cash in on another Ranger snafu to grab a 4-0 lead 7:18 into the second frame. Cade Legaarden’s second goal of the weekend offered a glimmer of hope for the visitors at 13:09 of the period. Fisk and Maddox Shindle picked up helpers on the power play tally. Unfortunately, a seeing eye shot from the point eluded Chase Glover in the Parkland net and extended the lead to 5-1 heading to the final frame. Two more Lightning goals in the third period sealed the 7-1 win and left the Rangers facing a long, cold ride home without any points. For the game, Glover made 29 saves and Ethan Myhre stopped all 11 he faced in relief. The Rangers managed 31 shots on Alex Myers in the Interlake cage. While the power play was a positive for the stuttering Parkland offense, the squad will need to refocus on their individual assignments to snap the three game skid they currently find themselves on.
Rangers Ramblings: The next action for Parkland is another home-and-home series with the second place Southwest Cougars. Last week the Rangers earned a 2-1 win over the Cougars in Dauphin before dropping a 6-0 decision in the return match in Souris. This Friday’s game at the CUP will start at 7:30 PM… With 16 games to go, the Rangers are just 2 wins and 8 points shy of last season’s totals… Former Ranger Trey Sauder is off to a blistering start with the Steinbach Pistons. The former Swan Valley Stampeders captain has ripped three goals in two games since being traded at the MJHL deadline… Former Parkland Ranger Jayce Legaarden is continuing to pile up points for the Winkler Flyers and now has 31 through 27 games played… Ranger alum Brayden Dube is up to 10 goals and 18 points with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders… Former U15 and U18 Ranger Connor Dewar has put up 8 points in 42 games for the Minnesota Wild this season after notching 18 points in 81 games last year…