The Rangers have been led offensively by captain Cameron Reid, who recorded one goal and three assists on Monday, and Jack Pridham, who leads the tournament with three goals.
Goaltender Christian Kirsch has sustained a 1.00 goals-against average and a . 970 save percentage over his first two starts.
"When the game usually gets harder, we just keep playing better," Ahokas noted.
"But in this tournament, you have to keep getting better if you want to win it," he said.
Kitchener's leadership group remains focused on keeping their preparation identical to their season-long routine despite the elevated tournament pressure.
"It’s the same hockey game we’ve been playing all year; just the stakes are a little different," Reid said.
"Nothing changes for our group; we do the same stuff and prepare for the game," he added.
Sagueneens Rely on Lefebvre
Chicoutimi relies heavily on the momentum generated by Lefebvre, who opened the scoring on a first-period breakaway and sealed Sunday's victory at 5:28 of overtime off a pass from Nathan Lecompte.
The 19-year-old forward has surged from 70th to 38th on NHL Central Scouting's final North American skater rankings after scoring 32 goals during his rookie junior hockey season.
"I mean, big goal there definitely for us as a team," Lefebvre said.
Lefebvre explained that the team successfully executed their pre-overtime strategy by prioritizing puck control and maintaining an aggressive shooting approach.
"I think we controlled well the game through that overtime. Puck possession, we talked about it before heading into it.
