Brandon Caputo
@BCaputo_AGM
Coming off an entertaining overtime thriller in the opening game, te Kitchener Rangers scored a trio of first period goals including a pair from Jack Pridham, helping lift the high-seeded Rangers to an eventual 6-1 victory on home ice over the Flint Firebirds.
Kitchener held Flint to 0/7 on the man advantage and outshot the Firebirds 43-22 despite a playoff heavy contest on both ends of the rink with a staggering 32 penalties handed out in total.
Nathan Aspinal got the Firebirds on the board late in the opening period before Andrew Vermeulen answered right back to extend the Kitchener lead back to three, giving the former Niagara IceDog goals in back-to-back playoff games to begin his OHL playoff career.
Kitchener would add two more in the second and one late in the third from Trent Swick to take it by a 6-1 score.
Jackson Parsons wasn't overly busy in the Rangers net but stopped 21 of 22 in the win while Nathan Day did all he could to hold a highly skilled Rangers team to six on 43 shots.
The series will now shift back to Flint, Michigan with the Rangers holding a decisive 2-0 series lead.
Game 3 goes Tuesday Night from the Dort Financial Center.
