RANGERS GO ON A SCORING SPREE TO OVERPOWER PEACH KINGS

 

GLANBROOK (Feb. 1) – Chase Johnson and Justin Vermeulen each chipped in with a pair of goals as the Glanbrook Rangers took a giant step toward their goal of a Bloomfield Division title with a resounding 6-1 victory over the Grimsby Peach Kings.

The win elevated the Rangers into an eight-point cushion on the second-place Peach Kings with just nine games remaining in the regular season, and was surely a confidence-booster for the hosts.

“Against Grimsby we approach things structurally the same way (as any other team),” said Johnson, who collected his 14th and 15th tallies of the season. “But it’s important that mentally we all focus more. There’s a lot less room for error, so it’s important to show up as focused as possible.”

That extra diligence has served the Rangers well so far as they’ve secured a 4-1-0-1 record against their perennial adversaries for Bloomfield supremacy. But, at the outset of this contest, it appeared that the visitors were equally prepared. The Peach Kings held sway for much of the first frame, outshooting the Rangers 12-7 and emerging with a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal by Eric Lowe.

“In the first period, they definitely had the upper hand,” said Johnson. “We took some penalties we shouldn’t have, but our penalty kill was extremely strong. In the second period, we knew where we needed to improve and we executed that to a T.”

That’s T – as in turnaround, because the Rangers proceeded to rattle off six unanswered goals over the final two periods to chalk up their 28th victory of the campaign, the second-best total in the PJHL.

“Once that first goal went in,” explained Johnson, “it felt like the game opened up for us and from there we were able to play our game and finish out strong.”

Vermeulen led things off with his 10th of the season at 5:28 of the second, then he and Johnson took turns inscribing the scoresheet, with Johnson striking at 7:20, then Vermeulen again with a shorthanded effort at 12:22. Johnson opened the third period compilation at 2:07, while Ty Crombie (at 3:28) and Cooper Hood (at 4:07) also got in on the action.

Netminder Jason Sviergula, making his fourth consecutive start, kept his spotless record intact (15-0-0-1) with a 27-save performance. Also central to the Rangers’ success was once again the effectiveness of their penalty-killing units — especially in the first period when they were vulnerable – which neutralized four Grimsby man-advantage situations in the first period and two in the second, capping off the display with Vermeulen’s shortie.

“A big factor was the penalty kill,” said Johnson. “To go five-of-six against Grimsby is something they should definitely be given credit for. Other than that, I think as a team we just stuck to the game plan and played hard through all three periods no matter the situation.”

NOTES: Vermeulen’s shorthanded goal was the Rangers’ fifth of the season. He also contributed an assist to lead Glanbrook with a three-point outing … Dallas Nadasdi and Ryan Burke each had a pair of assists … Sviergula picked up an assist to draw even with partner Tiago Rocha in the Rangers’ goalie scoring race.