The Kitchener Rangers defeated the Sarnia Sting 5-2 in Ontario Hockey League action, Thursday night before 2,719 fans a the RBC Centre.
 

The loss was Sarnia’s third in a row and saw their overall record dip to 13-19-1-1. Kitchener improved to 23-8-1-2.
 

The Sting resume action tonight when they travel to Mississauga to take on the St. Michael’s Majors. They return home Saturday to face the Brampton Battalion beginning at 7:35 p.m. at the RBC Centre.
 

Last night’s game saw the Rangers jump out to a 2-0 lead after the first period and extended that lead to 4-1 after 40 minutes. The Sting could get no closer than two goals in the third period.
 

“We got a little bit better as the game went on, but in the first period we looked like we did a month ago,” said Sting head coach Dave MacQueen. “It’s very discouraging. Give Kitchener some due as they have a good hockey club and capitalized on the chances they had.
 

“But we allowed 11 odd-man rushes in the first and second periods. You aren’t going to win many games in this league on a regular basis doing that. We scored late in the second period to make it 3-1 and we had some life. But they came right back quickly and scored even though we had four guys back and they had only two players and still scored.``
 

He added, “Our defence seems to lay down on two-on-one breaks. We do not teach that.  There are a number of skilled players in this league who will walk around you when that happens.  I also thought we left (Adam Courchaine) out to dry in the first and second periods."
 

For the fifth straight game the Sting was held to just a pair of goals.
 

``That’s been the story of the year. Two goals a game over the last five. We don’t have a lot of natural goal scorers so that’s why we have to play sound defensively. It seems we need to work for everything we get.  You can't win many games scoring two a game."
 

Chris MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog led the Rangers with a goal and an assist each. Julian Cimadamore, Michael Catenacci and Jason Akeson added one goal each. Akeson`s goal came into an open net.
 

Kale Kerbashian (11^th) and Zack MacQueen (6^th) scored for the Sting.
 

Kitchener held a 36-32 edge in shots on goal with Mavric Parks the winning goalie.
 

Just three minor penalties were called, two to the Rangers.
 

`MacQueen knows his power play continues to struggle.
 

"We know the issues. The first thing is execution. We have to want it more than the penalty-killers. The players on the power play have to match that work ethic. We’ve watched video, worked on our power play extensively at practice this week. We’re trying everyone."
 

``When we have control of the puck no one is open. When we do have a shot there’s no traffic in front of the net. We just have to go back to the basics and keep it simple."
 

MacQueen knows his team is in for a tough fight tonight against the Majors.
 

`We aren`t going to let the guys off the hook. We still want to try and get points before the Christmas break."
 

-     MacKinnon was first star with Landeskog second star and Kerbashian third star.

-     For the first time in four games the Sting had a full lineup of 20 players.

-     Sarnia`s home record fell to 7-9-1-0. Kitchener is 9-5-1-1 on the road.

-     Rangers head coach Steve Spott was not at the game as he is an assistant coach with Team Canada at the world junior championships.