Rangers pounded by Jr. Canadiens at Pink at the Rink

November 23, 2013

7:00 PM EST

By Jamie Neugebauer

Kyle Thacker notched the first two points of his North York career but the Rangers fell 6-3 to the Toronto Junior Canadiens at Pink at the Rink on Sunday afternoon.

A large key in the game was the fact that the visitors had 11 power plays to North York’s two, and the ensuing frustration hampered the Rangers’ efforts to get going.

“These guys have to figure out how to motivate themselves,” North York head coach John Dean said after the game.

“We can’t use excuses, and the guys worked hard at the very end, but we have to learn to play sixty minutes. The bottom line is that I’m not happy with how they responded – we can’t control how the referees call the game.”

Zachary Fung re-directed a Thacker point shot at 10:42 of the second period on the power play to give North York its only lead of the game; and then John Carpino and Liam Kerins scored within a span of 42 seconds late in the third to cut the Toronto lead to two.

But then an empty-netter sealed it with just over a minute left in regulation.

It was the first time the Rangers gave up more than three goals in a game since Oct. 18 – a span of 14 games – and only the second time ever for Gianluca Baggetta who faced a season high 41 shots, many of them in quality locations.

North York is off until next Saturday when it travels to Burlington to battle the Cougars, puck drops at 8 p.m.