Captain Kyle Clarke’s two-goal game Friday night at St. Mike’s Arena was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating two-loss weekend for the North York Rangers. Clarke’s seven goals and 14 points put him well on track for his career highs of 11 and 24, respectively, and with his production has provided excellent leadership all season for North York.
Yet with all that in mind, the Rangers gave up five goals in both games, and have done so in three of their last four, with a 5-2 loss at St. Mike’s Friday, and a 5-1 defeat to the Georgetown Raiders at the Herb Carnegie Centennial Arena Sunday afternoon.
Clarke opened the scoring for the Rangers Friday, but goals by Mark Paolini and Devlin Shanahan left the Buzzers with a 2-1 lead after an even first period.
Clarke got the scoring going in the second as well, firing home at 12:00, but Paolini and Cameron Wright put St. Mike’s up for good with two goals 1:40 apart.
Thomas Flack sealed the deal at the 8:47-mark of the third period for St. Mikes’ third power-play goal of the contest.
Jeremie Lintner made 38 saves in the contest.
Sunday afternoon’s contest against the Raiders started well also, with Nick Zanette giving the Rangers the early lead 3:07 into the game.
But like on Friday, it was not to last.
Matt McJannet, Josh Dickinson, and Jack Jacome each found the back of the net in the second period, while Ethan Wiseman and McJannet piled on with goals in the third as the Rangers have now dropped five of their last six games stretching back to an emotional 3-1 win over the Oakville Blades on Oct. 9.
North York will look to right the ship this weekend when they take on the Mississauga Chargers at Port Credit Arena Saturday night, before returning home for a Sunday afternoon rematch with the St. Mike’s Buzzers.
