Rangers win close game over Red Sabres

Stellar defense and goaltending from both sides prevailed in Sunday's intense playoff matchup between the Mite Rangers and Red Sabres at the Amherst Pepsi Center.

The Rangers got just enough scoring to eek out a 2-1 victory against a highly motivated and very formidable Red Sabre team that gave everything they had shift after shift.

Scoring chances were nearly nonexistent until late in the first period when Ranger forward Cam Kiefer got his team on the board with a tremendous individual effort, blocking a shot in his own zone, tracking down the puck and going the length of the ice before sliding the puck under Red Sabre goaltender Joe Meosky.

The Red Sabres responded with an aggressive forecheck and, led by Dylan Wild and Matt Chrzanowski, swarmed all over the Ranger zone before Red Sabre sniper Matt Vizzi finally slid the puck home past Ranger goaltender Jake Kantor to tie the game with only eight seconds remaining in the period.

Scoring chances remained at a premium in the scoreless second period.

The Rangers kept the puck in the Red Sabre zone for the majority of the frame, as Ranger defensemen Ryan Arrastia and Mark Venditti stood tall at the point, continuously cutting off Red Sabre clearing passes at the blue line and pounding the puck deep into the offensive zone, but the Rangers could not beat Meosky. Meosky denied quality scoring chances from Michael Kreuz, Brennan Hurley and Alex Streng to keep his team in the game throughout the period, and got excellent help from defensemen Alex Tzetzo, Adam Smolka and Trevor Conschafter, who broke up several Ranger chances to keep the game tied.

Tight checking continued in the third period but the Rangers were able to score the game winner halfway through the final stanza when Ranger forward Jonathan Phillips made a slick pass up the boards to linemate Matt Cohen just outside the Ranger blue line and Cohen fought off two Red Sabre defensemen down the ice before letting go a rising laser that caught twine just under the cross bar.

The action intensified over the last several minutes of the game as the Rangers nursed their slim lead and held on against an inspired Red Sabre attack led by Ben Reichert, Timmy Finley, and Joe Oliver. The Red Sabres also got strong play throughout the game from Nolan Deakin, John Pinti, and Ryan Kelly.

The Red Sabres pulled their netminder in favor of the extra attacker with a minute remaining in the game and for the second week in a row, the Rangers could not capitalize on a yawning net at the other end of the ice.

The Red Sabres applied relentless pressure and whacked away at the puck with a vengeance in front of the Ranger net but Ranger netminder Kantor was able to cover up with three seconds remaining and force a faceoff, which Ranger center Chris Dirienzo won to salt away the game.