Kitchener Rangers take Game 1 of 2026 OHL championship

CTV’s Alexandra Holyk breaks down how Game 1 of the OHL championship between the Kitchener Rangers and Barrie Colts went.

The Kitchener Rangers have an early lead on the OHL championship series after securing Game 1 with a 5 - 2 victory.

The Kitchener Rangers drew first blood with a goal from Andrew MacNiel 10 minutes and 45 seconds into the first period.

However, within the first 4 minutes of the second period, Ben Wilmott put the Barrie Colts on the board to draw even.

Dylan Edwards helped the blue shirts inch ahead once again, but a second goal from Wilmott knotted the score up at 2 apiece to end the second period.

Before the end of the period, Barrie’s Joe Salandra went down hard after he got caught up with Cameron Reid. Salandra stayed down as medical staff came out onto the ice. He was eventually stretchered off as his teammates came out and took a knee in support while Reid stayed close by.

“Hockey’s a physical game by nature,” said Colts head coach Dylan Smoskowitz at a post-game press conference Wednesday. “I have zero doubt that there was any ill intent on that play.”

Once the third period got underway, MacNiel came back for his second goal of the night, followed moments later by fellow Ranger Cameron Arquette who extended Kitchener’s lead to 4 – 2.

Sam O’Reilly added an empty netter to wrap up Game 1 5 – 2 in Kitchener’s favour.

“It’s finals. It’s going to be hard and we’re happy with the win,” Rangers head coach Jussi Ahokas said during the press conference.

“I thought the effort was there,” Smoskowitz said. “I thought our execution could have been better and I’d be lying to you if I said that we played our best game tonight.”

Despite Kitchener’s win, analysts said the fight is far from over.

“They’re two of the greatest, the best teams in the OHL,” TSN analyst Ryan Gardner said in an interview with CTV News Thursday. “It’s not like you’re going to play a perfect game, and it’s how you deal with that adversity and how you’re able to, after a bad shift, come back with a good one.”

Play-by-play announcer David Foot said the Rangers have to keep building on their momentum.

“If the Rangers can come out and they can put the pedal down at home and maybe get ahead by a couple early on, it’s going to be really tough for Barrie to battle back,” Foot said.

The series continues on Friday at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.