Jamestown, NY – SWEEP!
The Rebels (20-27-1-2) finished off the weekend sweep of the East Division’s first place New Jersey Titans (34-11-0-1) by a final score of 5-3 on February 22nd at the Northwest Arena.
Tonight, it was the visitors who got into early penalty trouble, as Titans defenseman Ole Andersen was sent to the box just 29 seconds into the game. The Rebels were unable to capitalize on the man-advantage, however, and shortly afterwards found themselves shorthanded, were New Jersey’s Mitch Machlitt put a power play goal past Rebels goalie Noah West to give the visitors the 1-0 lead. Chances for the Titans came aplenty throughout most of the first period, as they tested West with 15 shots in the opening frame, but the D1-commit held down the fort until Rebels forward Brett Morich was able to tie things up a 1-1 with a tally 16:33 into the first, his second of the year.
Then came a wild second period of action that had it all. Captain Eric Olson got things started with a power play goal 4:46 into the period, his team-leading 18th of the season, from a gorgeous pass off the stick of Liam Hansson. New Jersey didn’t allow time for much celebration, as Chris Garbe tucked home a breakaway goal just 1:06 later to even things up at 2-2. The fast-paced battle continued until Jordan Cormier, amidst a mad scramble at the side of the New Jersey net, was able to power home a scrappy goal, his ninth of the season, to give the home team the lead back 3-2.
Plenty of goals, and then a fight. New Jersey’s Kyler Head took down Rebels forward Artjoms Lapiks at center ice, instigating a heavy scrap between the two which ended with Head back-first on the ice, and 27 minutes worth of penalties. Now how about a penalty shot? Titan’s forward Cam Gendron was awarded the rare 1-on-0 just one minute following the fight, and West again shut the door, one of 19 shots he saw in the second period. The Rebels weren’t able to contain the visitors for much longer, however, as Josef Glamos scored with 17:11 to go in the middle frame to even things back up at 3-3 going into the final period.
It was anybody’s game coming into the closing period, but Jamestown was able to break the tie on a goal from Tino Passarelli, his ninth of the season, 6:40 into the third. Renars Karkls gave the Rebels extra cushion with his sixth goal of the season, putting the home team up 5-3 with just under three minutes remaining in the final period. 5-3 would stand as the final, as the Rebels earned the weekend sweep.
Noah West earned his 14th win of the season, stopping 37 of 40 total New Jersey shots. Hansson (19, 20) collected two assists, while Karkls (8), Morich (2), Olson (18), Passarelli (13), Nick Siffringer (13) and Danny Magnuson (5) each added one assist in the win. Jamestown finished the night going 1/5 on the power play, totaling 31 shots on goal.
Next up, the Rebels will travel to Marlyand for a weekend series against the Black Bears, February 28th and 29th, with 4 massive points on the line in the push towards the playoffs.
