There are no such thing as “gimmie-games” in the Ontario Hockey League, no matter how far apart two teams are in the standings – especially if the teams happen to be highway rivals.

The last place Guelph Storm kept themselves in the game until its final moments, but the Kitchener Rangers pulled away with a 5-3 win in front of 6,982 fans at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex on Sunday afternoon.

Jeremy Bracco’s transition to the OHL has looked almost seamless, as the 18-year-old scored his first two OHL goals and added an assist in the win, and now boasts two goals and four assists in three games with the Rangers. The entire line of Robinson, MacInnis and Bracco once again reaped the rewards of some impressive talent and hard work.

The three would combine for three goals and eight points on the afternoon, while Jake Henderson also potted a pair of goals to help lead the team to its 10th straight win (12-0-3-0). The Storm have now lost nine straight and fall to 1-12-1-0, despite a modest effort against a team they trailed by 22 points in the standings prior to today’s game.

Luke Opilka, who earned his first career OHL shutout versus the Storm back on October 18th, stopped 29 of 32 shots he faced including a handful of incredibly difficult chances presented by the Storm to earn the win and improve his record to 8-0-2-0.

Justin Nichols was the starter for the Storm and took the loss, allowing four goals on 18 shots in just 29:17 of work. Bradley Van Shubert took the reins for the final 30:43 and gave up one goal on 15 shots.

The Rangers looked poised to cruise to their 12th win of the season as they led the Storm 4-0 near the midway point of the game, but the Storm would hang around. At 16:22 of the third period Guelph winger Givani Smith completed a hat-trick effort and cut the Kitchener lead to 4-3, but an insurance marker from MacInnis at 17:19 sealed the victory for the Blueshirts.

If they were a worn down bunch after an admittedly grueling practice run by coach Mike Van Ryn on Saturday, then they didn’t often let it show.

“We had a little bit of an issue that we needed to take care of, so we worked them pretty hard yesterday in practice,” said Van Ryn post-game. “So with that being said, I thought today was a character win.”

“As mad as I was at them yesterday, I’m pretty proud of this group tonight. We came together. It was a gritty game and I know how tired they were, but they worked hard against a Guelph team that works hard every night. It’s never easy against them.”

Connor Bunnaman set up the game’s first goal, dishing a pass from the corner to Henderson at the hash marks. Henderson then one-timed the pass glove side past Nichols at 8:07 of the first period to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.

Bracco’s first Rangers goal came at 14:46 after capitalizing on a rebound off a shot from MacInnis. Robinson would earn the second assist, giving the Rangers a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Despite outscoring the Storm, the Rangers found themselves outshot 10-9 in the opening frame.

Bracco’s second goal came at 8:59 of the second period, as the winger banked the puck off of Nichols’ pad and into the net – all from behind the Guelph goal line. Brian Brosnan and Robinson earned the assists as the Rangers took a 3-0 lead.

They would add to that lead just 18 seconds later as Henderson followed up an initial shot from Kohn with a heads-up rebound, putting the Rangers up 4-0 and chasing Nichols from the game in favour of Van Shubert.

With the Rangers on the power play it was the Storm who would capitalize, as an odd man breakout would result in a shorthanded goal by Smith, assisted by James McEwan at 15:31. Shots were 13-12 Kitchener in the frame for a two period total of 22-22.

Smith would score his second of the game at 6:17 of the third period to cut the Rangers lead to 4-2 from McEwen and C.J. Garcia then again from Austin Hall and Kyle Rhodes at 16:22 to complete the hat trick, but it was as close as they would come to mounting a complete comeback. MacInnis tallied his eleventh of the season from Robinson and Bracco at 17:19 to give the home side a little breathing room en route to securing the 5-3 win.

Neither team was successful on the power play, as the Storm were 0-for-4 and the Rangers were 0-for-6 with the man advantage.

MacInnis, Brosnan, and Frank Hora each wore ‘A’s and skated as assistant captains for the game.

Henderson (3), Smith (2) and Bracco (1) were chosen as the Three Stars of the game.

The Rangers will spend next weekend on the road as they travel to Ottawa to take on the 67’s on Friday, October 6th at 7pm, then take on the Kingston Frontenacs on Saturday, October 7th, also at 7pm.

Tickets for the Rangers next home game are available online at kitchenerrangers.com, by calling Centre in the Square, or through The Aud Box Office.