The Sarnia Sting's powerplay came up empty in a 5-3 loss to the Kitchener Rangers before a crowd of 4,289 at Progressive Auto Sales Arena on Thursday night.
The best-of-seven OHL Western Conference Semifinal is now tied 2-2, with game five scheduled for Friday night at The Aud in Kitchener.
The Sting failed to capitalize on four chances with the man advantage and are now 1 for 38 this postseason.
Connor Schlichting opened the scoring for the Sting 2:07 into the first period on a shot that trickled in from the point. Drake Rymsha and Jonathan Ang assisted on the play. The lead lasted for just three minutes before Kole Sherwood and Austin McEneny scored back to back goals to give the Rangers a 2-1 lead after one period.
Sting rookie Brayden Guy potted his first career playoff goal to tie the game 2-2 midway through the second frame. Jonathan Yantsis pulled Kitchener back ahead 3-2 five minutes later, but Jordan Kyrou quickly knotted it at 3-3 eight seconds after that on a nice feed from Jordan Ernst. Adam Ruzicka also notched an assist.
Givani Smith and Connor Bunnaman scored third period goals for the Rangers to seal the win.
Sting goalie Justin Fazio recovered after allowing two goals on the first two shots against. He made 27 saves on 32 shots faced. Mario Culina stopped 33 of 36 shots in the Rangers net.
You can hear Friday's game live on 103.9FM and 1070AM CHOK, with puck drop scheduled for 7:30pm.