Mite division
Kantor wins goaltending duel, Rangers post 1-0 victory

Mite Ranger netminder Jake Kantor turned in yet another stellar playoff performance on Saturday at the Amherst Pepsi Center.

After giving up only one goal in each of the Rangers' first two playoff games, Kantor stopped every shot he faced against the White Sabres. And Kantor needed to be perfect, because down at the other end of the ice, White Sabres' goaltender Dallas Brown was nothing short of spectacular.

In what was a sign of things to come, Brown had to make a save on Ranger forward Matt Cohen just eight seconds into the game and then made save after save to keep his team in the contest. The Rangers pelted Brown with 33 shots from every angle and from nearly every player as he turned away everything until Alex Streng was able to poke home a rebound with just 6:01 remaining in the third period for the game's only goal.

Ranger goalie Kantor had to come up with a number of big saves of his own, starting with a rob of White Sabre forward Zach Surowiec four minutes in.

White Sabre sharpshooter Brady Kyle had a chance to put his team on the board early in the second period, but Kantor flicked a glove to snag Kyle's high wrister. Kantor also made a terrific save on Geno Dire to keep the game scoreless through two periods of play and then made enormous saves on Ben Wolfson and Michael Wells in the third period.

And Kantor, who has given up only four total goals in six games this season in the Ranger net, got plenty of help from his teammates as well.

Late in the first period, Ranger forward Jonathan Phillips skated hard and dove to break up a scoring chance by a streaking Jeffrey Browne. Early in the third period, Dire broke in on net, but Ranger defenseman Streng laid out to knock the puck away just as Dire wound up to shoot.

But Dallas Brown stole the show and almost the game. The Rangers had at least a dozen glorious scoring chances, but Brown denied them time and again. He stoned Cohen, Michael Kreuz, and Brennan Hurley several times each and also foiled excellent scoring opportunities by Streng, Chris Dirienzo, Phillips and Austin Stanley.

With three minutes to go in the first period, Ranger defenseman Mark Venditti hit forward Hurley with a perfect outlet pass that sent Hurley in all alone on the White Sabres' goal, but Brown stood tall.

Midway through the second period, Brown robbed Kreuz after the Ranger forward went coast to coast through a sea of white. At one point early in the third period, Cohen got three successive shots off from just outside the goal crease but could not beat Brown.

Dogged puck pursuit in the offensive zone by Pat Greeley, Cam Kiefer, Patrick Rosen, Stanley and Streng finally paid off for the Rangers, when Rosen got the puck in front to Stanley for a shot, and Streng, from a scrum in front of the White Sabres' net, poked in Stanley's rebound. Seconds later, Cohen broke free with a chance to break the game open, but Brown stoned him again and then over the next couple of minutes made great saves first on Kreuz and then Hurley, yet again, to keep it a one-goal game and set the stage for another exciting playoff ending.

For the third time in as many playoff games, the Rangers found themselves nursing a one-goal lead and facing an empty net at the other end of the ice as the final seconds ticked off the game clock.

With 28 seconds remaining, a penalty against the Rangers put the White Sabres on the power play. They pulled the goaltender to give them a two-man advantage as they looked for the tying goal, but the Ranger defense, led by Drew Elliott and Ryan Arrastia, held up and prevented the White Sabres' potent attack from getting off a shot.