It wasn’t pretty but the Rebels will take it. The Rebels overcame a one goal deficit to send the game into overtime which allowed defenseman Brennan Kapcheck to become the star on the night when he scored on a breakaway to give the Rebels a 3 – 2 win and completed a weekend sweep of the Johnstown Tomahawks.
The Rebels got on the board first when Ryan Patrick brought the puck into the neutral zone and passed it to his left to Captain Dom Garcia. Garcia would walk in on a breakaway on Tomahawks goalie Britt League and put a backhander behind him to give the Rebels a 1 – 0 lead with 7:53 left in the first period.
Hatboro native and former Jr. Flyer youth player, Andy Iehle would tie the game thirty four seconds later. With the faceoff deep in the Rebels zone, Johnstown’s Joshua Biasillo won the draw and sent the puck back to the point to Iehle. Iehle took a blast that hit the goal post and went into the net behind Mareks Mitens at 7:19 of the opening period.
Similar to Friday night’s game Mitens and League kept their respective team in the game with key saves throughout. It was a tight checking game and neither team converted on their power plays.
With 5:29 left in the second period the Tomahawks would take a 2 – 1 lead. Center Samuel Solensky won the draw deep inside the Rebels zone. The puck game out to Filips Buncis who took a shot that beat Mitens shortside for Buncis fifth goal of the season.
As the game went into the third head coach Joe Coombs rallied his troops. The Rebels came out pressuring the Tomahawks. Seven minutes into the last period, there was scrum in front of the net. Aaron Maguyon picked up the loose puck in front of the net and passed it to Evgeny Yakovlev who put it behind League to tie the game at two.
Mitens and League made several key saves to keep the game tied and send it into overtime for a three on three.
After a collision in the Rebels net that resulted in a stoppage of play, Gianluca Esteves won the draw deep inside the Rebels zone. He passed the puck to Kapcheck. Kapcheck took the puck behind the Rebels net to allow the play to develop. He brought the puck through center ice into the offensive zone. He went around a Tomahawk defenseman, toe dragged the puck and put it on a backhander that beat League to give the Rebels the win.
The Rebels won both games this weekend by the score of 3 – 2. Mitens saved 29 of 31 shots while League turned aside 18 of 21 shots. Click here for the box score.
With the Tomahawks loss and a New Jersey win, the Titans are now in second place seven points behind the Rebels. New Jersey visits IceWorks next weekend for a three game series.
