The visiting Philadelphia Rebels used a balance scoring attack en route to a 5 – 2 victory over the New Jersey Titans to complete a weekend sweep between the two teams.
The Rebels win, coupled with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s overtime loss to Johnstown, increased the team’s lead in the East Division by ten points.
After a scoreless first period, the Titans would get on the board first. New Jersey’s Todd Goehring was called for roughing at 1:15 to put the Rebels on the powerplay. Eight seconds later Nick Boyagian scored his second shorthanded goal of the season. After Ryan Naumovski intercepted the puck he fed Boyagian with a pass and the Titans forward took a shot that squeaked by Rebels netminder Ryan Keane to give the Titans a 1 – 0 lead.
The Rebels then would go onto score five consecutive goals to change the game’s outcome.
With Titans defender Eric Manoukian looking to clear the zone behind his own net, he sent a wrap around pass up the near side boards that was intercepted by Eric Olson. Olson immediately turned to his right and sent a pass to a wide-open Adam Peck in the slot and Peck redirected the biscuit past Titans’ netminder Matt Ladd to tie the game at one with 3:11 remaining in the second. It was Peck’s eleventh goal on the season.
After the Titans won the draw deep inside the Rebels zone the puck would go to the far side boards where Kolby Vegara picked it up and sent it high off the glass to center ice to Ryan Patrick. Patrick passed it over to Jensen Zerban on his right. The speedy forward entered the Titans zone and sent a return feed to Patrick who redirected the puck past Ladd into the back of the net to give the Rebels a 2 – 1 lead with 1:38 left is the middle stanza.
The Rebels would take a two-goal lead just :53 into the third period on Konur Peterson’s fifth goal on the season.
New Jersey’s Ryan Wheeler entered the Rebels zone but was stripped off the puck by Alex Frye. Frye would send a bounce pass off the far side boards to Brandon Stanley. Stanley entered the offensive zone on a two-on-one with Peterson. As Stanley skated towards the top of the faceoff circled he passed the puck over to Peterson on his right and the Mt. Horeb, WI native wristed it past Ladd to make it 3 – 1 Rebels.
The Rebels would make it 4 – 1 with 13:23 left in the game.
Bryant Gunn would pick up the puck behind his own net and sent it up along the near side boards to Austin Martz who passed the puck up to Jimmy Glynn at the red line. Glynn would enter the Titans on a two-on-two with Martz. As Glynn entered the offensive zone he took a sharp angle shot that was saved by Ladd but the puck trickled passed him for Glynn’s second goal on the season.
Aaron Maguyon would close out the Rebels scoring to make it 5 – 1 with 6:39 remaining in regulation.
After Keane made a right pad save the rebound would go up to Nicolas Appendino who sent the puck to Zerban. The Air Force Academy commit would immediately pass it up to Patrick. Patrick sent a return pass to Zerban who entered the Titans zone. Zerban took a shot that was saved by Ladd but he couldn’t control the rebound and Maguyon tucked it in for his thirteenth goal on the season.
New Jersey’s Justin Bofshever scored with 2:59 remaining to make it a 5 – 2 game.
Keane stopped 32 of 34 shots while Ladd turned aside 27 of 32. Click here for the box score.
The Rebels will leave on Wednesday to begin a three-game series starting on Thursday against the Northeast Generals.
