Bowman and Gillespie help Guelph Storm beat Kitchener Rangers

The Guelph Storm got a big win against the Kitchener Rangers today.

Braeden Bowman scored twice to lead the Storm past the Rangers 6-2 Sunday afternoon at the Sleeman Centre, two days after dropping one to the Rangers on Friday night in Kitchener.

Bowman would have had a hat trick in the game if the first goal of the game counted. Instead, it was ruled goaltender interference on the part of the Storm and the goal was disallowed.

Still, Guelph got out to a 2-0 first period lead on goals by Valentin Zhugin and Ben McFarlane. The Storm added to that early in the second period. Payton Robinson scored 51 seconds into the period for a 3-0 Guelph lead, then Bowman would get the first of two on the night to give the Storm a 4-0 lead.

“I thought we had a good game (on Friday night) and battled hard to the very end,” Bowman said. “We came out hard today and did a good job in shutting down their guys. We stuck to our plan and it worked out.”

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Lleyton Moore got the Rangers on the board at the 8:10 mark of the second period and Kitchener trailed 4-1.

Former Storm forward Danny Zhilken also scored for the Rangers (21-23-2-0).

Matthew Poitras collected three assists for the Storm (22-21-4-1).

Brayden Gillespie was sharp in net for Guelph stopping 28 of 30 shots. Kitchener’s Marco Constantini allowed six goals on 17 shots before he was pulled in favour of Marcus Vandenburg, who got two saves.

“The team made it easy for me blocking shots at key moments,” said Gillespie, who earned his eighth win on the season. “The game wasn’t easy but they helped me a lot.”

The win gives the Storm a five-point lead on the Rangers who are in seventh place in the Western Conference standings. Guelph sits one-point back of the Flint Firebirds at sixth place.

The next game for the Storm is this Friday night when they host the Flint Firebirds at Sleeman Centre. You can catch the game on 1460 CJOY beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 p.m.

The Rangers play Wednesday night when they travel to London to battle the Knights.