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They sting a little more when you blow a three-goal lead (5 photos)

Guelph Storm losing streak hits seven games in road loss to Kitchener Rangers

KITCHENER – They all hurt when you're on a losing streak, but this one had to sting a little more.

The Guelph Storm blew a 3-0 lead Sunday, eventually falling 5-4 to the Kitchener Rangers in what was Guelph's seventh loss in a row.

The Storm also led 4-2 early in the third period before faltering.

"I think our first period was maybe the best period of hockey we've played in recent memory," Storm coach George Burnett said.

"We knew they were going to push in the second period and I thought we tried to be a little bit too cute in that second period. A couple of times we took it back into our own end ... they're going to chew you up when they can come at you that hard and we're worn down."

Good teams make you pay for your mistakes and turnovers, puck watching and letting your check come off the boards unhindered all led to Kitchener goals Sunday afternoon.

"Our mistakes are massive. Clearly we're not thinking well. Maybe it's communication and I hope it's not fatigue. That's why we have video and four good days of practice coming up," Burnett said.

The Storm jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first on goals by Eric Uba, Cam Hillis and Andrei Bakanov, outshooting the Rangers 16- in the opening 20 minutes.

The Rangers got back into it with a pair of unanswered goals in the second, but Uba's second of the night early in the third restored a two-goal lead.

But Arber Xhekaj and Isaac Langdon scored goals 1:22 apart to tie the game then Riley Damiani was left all alone in front of Owen Bennett in the Storm net to easily redirect a hard pass for the winning goal.

A lengthy five-on-three power play for Guelph sputtered in that third period.

"It's hard to believe it's the same thing we watched for 30-something games before Christmas. We've got some things to figure out this week," the coach said.

Burnett had praise for two-goal man Uba.

"As bad as we've been, Eric's been terrific through this whole stretch. To see him rewarded tonight was good."

Guelph has another three-in-three weekend coming up: back-to-back games against the Flint Firebirds then a Sunday afternoon visit to London.

The Storm hopes to have goaltender Nico Daws back in the lineup next weekend.


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Tony Saxon

About the Author: Tony Saxon

Tony Saxon has had a rich and varied 30 year career as a journalist, an award winning correspondent, columnist, reporter, feature writer and photographer.
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