What: Kitchener Rangers (17-5-0-1) at Erie Otters (11-14-1-0)

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.

Where: Tullio Arena

On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (18 goals, 17 assists, 35 points), RW Shawn Szydlowski (11-11-22), RW Anthony Luciani (8-10-18), G Ramis Sadikov (11-10-1-0 record, 2.77 goals-against average, .914 save percentage, 2 shutouts), D Derek Holden (2-13-15)

Kitchener – RW Jason Akeson (12-35-47), D Ryan Murphy (12-26-38, 10 power-play goals), RW Gabriel Landeskog (19-15-34), RW Tobias Rieder (10-15-25), LW Matthew Tipoff (12-12-24)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters began this three-game home stand with a 6-0 win against Belleville on Thanksgiving Night. … They have won two straight and seven of their last 10 games. … They have lost 10 straight to the Midwest Division rival Rangers by a combined 57-25 score dating to the start of the 2009-10 season, including the first three meetings this season. Their last two defeats were by one goal (6-5 at home Oct. 9 and 4-3 in Kitchener Oct. 11). … In the Belleville win, McKegg became the sixth player in franchise history to score four goals in a game. He ranks among the OHL’s top 10 in goals and points. … Luciani has goals in three straight games and points in five straight games (four goals, 11 points). He has five goals and 13 points in seven games since returning from a five-week layoff because of a broken wrist. … Sadikov, who has made 16 consecutive starts, posted his second career shutout on Thursday. … D Brady Austin (shoulder) has missed the past five games. … LW Brett Appio (leg) has missed four straight games. … Rookie D Adam Pelech (undisclosed injury) rejoined the lineup after leaving the Nov. 19 loss to Oshawa. … Holden has points in five of the past seven games. … C Phil Varone (5-7-12) has points in three straight games (one goal, five points). … Season-ticket holders can attend the Mercyhurst College women’s hockey team’s 2 p.m. game today against Colgate at Tullio for free.

Kitchener – The Rangers, who are 10^th in the CHL ranking, have the league’s third-best record despite losing top offensive performers Jeff Skinner (NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes) and Jeremy Morin (AHL’s Rockford IceHogs) to professional teams. … The Rangers have won nine of their last 10 games. … Akeson leads the league in points and assists. … Murphy leads all defensemen in scoring and is tied for sixth overall. He also leads in power-play goals. … Landeskog ranks among the top 15 in scoring. … The Rangers lead the league on the power play (25.5 percent). … D Ben Fanelli, who suffered serious head injuries from former Otter Michael Liambas’ hit in an Oct. 30, 2009 game, was cleared for full-contact workouts earlier this week, according to the team’s website.

Up next: vs. Guelph (Sunday, 4:30 p.m.), at Kitchener (Friday, 7:30 p.m.)

- Victor Fernandes

KITCHENER, Ontario – The Erie Otters’ losing streak against Kitchener continued Monday.

The Otters’ latest defeat was more heartbreaking than most.

Rangers winger Gabriel Landeskog scored on the power play with 1 minute, 6 seconds left in overtime to hand the Otters a 4-3 loss in front of 6,045 at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.

The Otters (3-4-1-0) have lost 11 straight against their Midwest Division rival – all eight meetings last season and three more in the past two weeks, including twice in the past three nights.

On Saturday night, the Otters nearly rallied from a three-goal deficit only to lose 6-5 at Tullio Arena. On Monday, the Otters erased a pair of one-goal deficits in the third period on rookie Adam Pelech’s first Ontario Hockey League goal 7:58 into the period and Greg McKegg’s goal with 19 seconds left.

But Pelech’s interference penalty 3:03 into overtime led to Landeskog’s winning goal.

McKegg (two goals, assist) handed the Otters a 1-0 lead 6:39 into the game with his league-leading third shorthanded goal of the season and his seventh goal overall, which ranks third in the league.

His 16 points are tied for the league lead with Kitchener’s Ryan Murphy, whose power-play goal with 3:14 left in the first tied the score at 1. Matthew Tipoff’s goal snapped the tie with 1:44 left in the second.

Shawn Szydlowski had two assists for the Otters. Rookie Luke Cairns had an assist, his second point in two games. Ramis Sadikov made 33 saves in a losing effort. Landeskog, Murphy and Tipoff had a goal and assist apiece for the Rangers (6-1-0-0), while Jamie Doornbosch had two assists.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Rangers 4, Otters 3 (OT)

Erie  1  0  2  0  —  3

Kitchener  0  2  1  1  —  4

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Greg McKegg 6 (unassisted), 6:39 (sh). Penalties — Appio (E) unsportsmanlike conduct, 5:35; Shields (E) high sticking, 7:46.

2^nd Period — 2. Kitchener, Ryan Murphy 5 (Doornbosch, Landeskog), 16:46 (pp). 3. Kitchener, Matthew Tipoff 5 (Marcantuoni), 18:16. Penalties — Melchiori (K) cross checking, 13:54; Gaulton (E) hooking, 14:48; Szydlowski (E) high sticking, 15:32; Cazzola (E) cross checking, 16:26; Akeson (K) hooking, 17:49.

3^rd Period — 4. Erie, Adam Pelech 1 (Szydlowski, McKegg), 7:58. 5. Kitchener, Tobias Rieder 6 (Tipoff, Marcantuoni), 12:31. 6. Erie, McKegg 7 (Cairns, Szydlowski), 19:41. Penalties — Melchiori (K) interference, 17:09.

3^rd Period — 7. Kitchener, Gabriel Landeskog 6 (Murphy, Doornbosch), 3:54 (pp). Penalties — Pelech (E) interference, 3:03

Shots on goal — Erie, 7-11-7-0—25; Kitchener, 15-12-1-8—36.

Goaltenders — Erie, Ramis Sadikov 3-4-0-0 (37 shots, 33 saves); Kitchener, Mike Morrison 2-0-0-0 (25 shots, 22 saves).

Power plays — Erie (0-3), Kitchener (2-6).

Referees — Brad Beer, Ryan Hutchison. Linesmen — Shawn Hamelin, Drew Jackson.

Attendance — 6,045.

Three stars

* Matia Marcantuoni, Rangers (2 assists) ** Matthew Tipoff, Rangers (goal, assist) *** Greg McKegg, Otters (2 goals, assist)

The Erie Otters had a two-goal lead against Kitchener on Saturday night.

But as usual, it didn’t last long. The Rangers made sure of that.

The Rangers scored five unanswered goals in the second and third periods to erase that two-goal deficit and hand the Otters a 6-5 loss in front of 3,082 at Tullio Arena. The Rangers (5-1-0-0) have won 10 straight games against the Otters (3-4-0-0) dating back to the start of the 2009-10 OHL season. Yet the Otters enjoyed a strong start against their Midwest Division rival.

Rookie center Chris Marchese’s first career goal – a power-play score off assists from Tyler Hostetter and Macaulay McDonnell – snapped the scoreless tie 12:59 into the opening period.

Kitchener’s Matthew Tipoff’s tied the score 1:12 later on assists from Tobias Rieder and Ryan Murphy, who tallied his league-best 10^th assist and 14^th point of the season. But the Otters took a 2-1 lead into the first intermission after Mike Cazzola scored his fourth goal of the season with 23 seconds left in the period.

Greg McKegg’s rebound goal – his team-leading fifth of the season – handed the Otters a 3-1 lead 5 minutes into the second. Yet the Rangers overpowered the Otters for three goals in less than two minutes.

Kitchener scored every goal by outmuscling Erie defenders for rebounds in front of goaltender Ramis Sadikov. Rieder scored his fifth goal of the season at the 10:48 mark to slice the Otters’ lead to 3-2.

Then Julian Melchiori and Andrew Crescenzi followed with goals 22 seconds apart to turn that one-goal deficit into a 4-3 Rangers lead heading to the third. Kitchener scored all three goals on eight shots. The Rangers extended their goal-scoring streak to four 1:05 into the third, as Jason Akeson scored on assists from rookie Matia Marcantuoni and Gabriel Landeskog for a 5-3 Rangers lead.

The streak reached five goals with 7:44 left, as Rieder stole the puck from Hostetter at the Otters’ blue line and scored unassisted for a 6-3 lead. The Otters finally responded on Jordan Coccimiglio’s goal with 6:08 left in regulation. Rookie Luke Cairns assisted on the goal for his OHL point. Shawn Szydlowski scored with Sadikov on the bench for an extra attacker with 1:45 left to pull the Otters within 6-5 – one of their 16 shots in the period. The Otters outshot Kitchener 38-27.

But the Otters scored the equalizer a second or two after the final buzzer sounded. Rieder led the Rangers with two goals and an assist. Akeson and Tipoff had a goal and assist apiece for the Rangers. McKegg and Szydlowski had two points apiece for the Otters.

* News and notes: Otters winger Anthony Luciani remained out of the lineup with an undisclosed injury, as did defenseman Brett Cook (undisclosed injury) and rookie center Connor Crisp (concussion). … The Otters and Rangers meet again on Monday at 1 p.m. in Kitchener.

- Victor Fernandes

SUMMARY

Rangers 6, Otters 5

Kitchener  1  3  2  —  6

Erie  2  1  2  —  5

1^st Period — 1. Erie, Chris Marchese 1 (Hostetter, McDonnell), 12:59 (pp). 2. Kitchener, Matthew Tipoff 4 (Rieder, Murphy), 14:11. 3. Erie, Mike Cazzola 4 (Szydlowski, McKegg), 19:37. Penalties — Pelech (E) tripping, 3:18; Melchiori (K) delay of game, 11:47; Thomson (K) hooking, 14:34.

2^nd Period — 4. Erie, Greg McKegg 5 (Cazzola, Pelech), 5:00. 5. Kitchener, Tobias Rieder 5 (Doornbosch, Tipoff), 10:48. 6. Kitchener, Julian Melchiori 1 (Catenacci, Akeson), 11:47. 7. Kitchener, Andrew Crescenzi 3 (Randell, Thomson), 12:19. Penalties — Austin (E) slashing, 2:39; Grant (E) hooking, 10:09; Gaulton (E) tripping, 12:26; Doornbosch (K) interference, 14:19; Appio (E) checking from behind, 18:00; Cazzola (E) hooking, 19:53.

3^rd Period — 8. Kitchener, Jason Akeson 4 (Marcantuoni, Landeskog), 1:05 (pp). 9. Kitchener, Rieder 6 (unassisted), 12:16. 10. Erie, Jordan Coccimiglio 2 (Cairns), 13:52. 11. Erie, Shawn Szydlowski 3 (McKegg, Cazzola), 18:15. Penalties — Melchiori (K) holding, 7:08; Appio (E) interference, 14:05; Marcantuoni (K) high sticking, 16:13.

Shots on goal — Kitchener, 13-8-6—27; Erie, 10-12-16—38.

Goaltenders — Kitchener, Brandon Maxwell 4-1-0-0 (38 shots, 33 saves); Erie, Ramis Sadikov 3-3-0-0 (27 shots, 21 saves).

Power plays — Kitchener (1-7), Erie (1-5).

Referees — Ryan Carroll, Seth Ferguson. Linesmen — Mike Harrington, Sean Pindar.

Attendance — 3,082.

Three stars

* Jason Akeson, Rangers (goal, assist) ** Greg McKegg, Otters (2 assists) *** Chris Marchese, Otters (first OHL goal)

What: Kitchener Rangers (4-1-0-0) vs. Erie Otters (3-3-0-0)

When: Saturday, 7 p.m.; Monday, 1 p.m.

Where: Tullio Arena (today); Kitchener Memorial Auditorium – Kitchener, Ontario (Monday)

On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (4 goals, 6 assists, 10 points), C Mike Cazzola (3-6-9), LW David Broll (2-4-6), D Tyler Hostetter (2-3-5), RW Shawn Szydlowski (2-3-5)

Kitchener – D Ryan Murphy (4-9-13, plus-8), RW Gabriel Landeskog (5-4-9), RW Tobias Rieder (4-5-9), RW Jason Akeson (3-5-8), Matthew Tipoff (3-2-5)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters enter the home-and-home series against their Midwest Division rival on a two-game winning streak. … They lost the first meeting in the eight-game season series 7-3 in Kitchener on Oct. 1. … The Otters have lost nine straight games against the Rangers by a combined 51-20 score dating back to last season. … McKegg and Cazzola are among the OHL’s top 20 in scoring. … McKegg has points in five straight games (four goals, seven points). … RW Anthony Luciani (undisclosed injury) joined D Brett Cook (undisclosed injury) and rookie C Connor Crisp (concussion) out of the lineup for Friday’s win in Guelph. … The Otters have allowed power-play goals in five of six games this season.

Kitchener – Murphy leads the league in points and assists and ranks among the top 10 with three power-play goals. He had a goal and four assists in last weekend’s win against the Otters… Landeskog (2 goals, assist), Akeson (goal, 2 assists) and C Michael Catenacci (goal, 2 assists) had three points apiece in that game. … The Rangers remain without C Jeff Skinner, who has begun the season with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes. LW Jeremy Morin, who was the final cut from Chicago Blackhawks’ training camp, was assigned to the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs earlier this week. The duo combined for 22 goals and 33 points in eight games against the Otters last season.

Up next: vs. Kitchener (Saturday, 7 p.m.), at Kitchener (Monday, 1 p.m.)

What: Erie Otters (1-2-0-0) at Kitchener Rangers (2-0-0-0)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Kitchener Memorial Auditorium – Kitchener, Ontario

On the air: WFNN-AM/1330, www.ottershockey.com (live stream)

Players to watch

Erie – C Greg McKegg (1 goals, 2 assists, 3 points), C Mike Cazzola (2-3-5), RW Anthony Luciani (2-1-3), LW David Broll (1-2-3), D Tyler Hostetter (1-1-2, plus-4)

Kitchener – RW Tobias Rieder (2-3-5), RW Gabriel Landeskog (3-1-4), D Ryan Murphy (2-2-4), LW Matthew Tipoff (2-0-2), RW Jason Akeson (0-2-2)

Fast facts

Erie – The Otters face Kitchener for the first of eight times in the regular season. They lost all eight meetings last season by a combined 44-17 score. … The Otters haven’t beaten Kitchener since a 4-1 win on March 14, 2009. … They haven’t won in Kitchener since a 6-3 victory on Jan. 18, 2009 – a span of five straight losses. … Rookie RW Macaulay McDonnell recorded his first point, an assist, in his OHL debut on Thursday at Niagara. … The Otters have been outshot 126-95 in three games this season, including 98-59 in two road games. … D David Shields, who returned from NHL camp with the St. Louis Blues last weekend, had no points and a plus-1 rating in his season debut on Friday. … Rookie C Connor Crisp (mild concussion) missed his third straight game on Friday. …

Kitchener – LW Jeremy Morin and C Jeff Skinner remain at NHL training camps with the Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes, respectively. They combined for 22 goals and 33 points in eight games against the Otters last season. … Rieder was the fifth overall pick in the CHL Import Draft in June. … The Rangers began the season with a 5-2 home win against Saginaw and 6-4 road win against Guelph last weekend. … G Brandon Maxwell (1-0-0-0, 2.00 goals-against average, .946 save percentage), a former Otters’ draft pick, stopped 35-of-37 shots in the season-opening win against Saginaw.

Up next: vs. London (Saturday, 7 p.m.), at Guelph (Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m.)

- Victor Fernandes