The North Bay Battalion only have two losses in their past 10 contests.
However, both of those have been at the hands of the Kitchener Rangers.
Tonight, goaltender Marcus Vandenberg was the game's first star as he turned away 39 of the 41 shots he faced as the Rangers edged the Battalion 3-2 at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Friday night.
Francesco Pinelli got the Rangers on the board in the opening frame as he notched his 11th of the campaign to give the homeside a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of action.
In the second period, the Troops badly outshot the Rangers 17-8 but were outscored 2-1 in the middle frame.
Joseph Serpa gave the Rangers a two-goal lead at 1:46 of the second period. Not long after that, Serpa connected again at 4:50 to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead early in the second.
Dalyn Wakely finally solved Vandenberg at 12:26 as he netted his 10th of the season unassisted which made it 3-1 Rangers after 40 minutes.
The Battalion did not quit and made the game interesting thanks to the club's third period pushback.
Ty Nelson fired home his 8th at 13:55 of the third to cut the lead to 3-2. The Troops outshot the Rangers 11-1 in the final frame but they could not find the equalizer in a 3-2 final.
The Battalion pulled DiVincentiis for a sixth attacker with 1:37 to play and dominated the play in the Kitchener zone, with the Rangers icing the puck wide of the empty net several times. Off a right-wing faceoff with 3.6 seconds left, Nelson had a point-blank chance from the left side in the final second, but Vandenberg got his right pad on the effort.
The loss drops the Battalion record to 13-6 while the Rangers improve to 8-9 on the season.
The Battalion visits the Owen Sound Attack at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen live in North Bay on YourTV Channels 12 and 700.
