Luke Janviriya scored a powerplay goal with 2:48 remaining in the game to give the Rebels a 3 – 2 win over the Aviators and complete the weekend sweep between the teams. The Rebels were trailing 2 – 0 until Brock Jones scored with 4:22 left in the second, and then Ruslan Jamaldinov tied the contest with 5:26 left in the game. The win pulls the Rebels within four points of the idle New Hampshire Mountain Kings for the sixth and final playoff spot.
It was the first time the Rebels swept an opponent since December 6 and 7 when the beat the Maine Nordiques for a pair of games at Hollydell. This is the first time this year that the Rebels swept an away series.
The Rebels took the season series against Elmira four games to two and out scoring them by a combined score of 23 to 15.
The Aviators came out flying in the first period out shooting the Rebels 12 to 5. Elmira’s Clarence Beltz put the home team on the board just 4:37 into the game. The Aviators’ Matthew Maglio brought the puck up through center ice and into the offensive zone along the near side boards. As Maglio gained the line, he passed the puck to Bryce Terry on his right. Terry took a wrist shot from the slot that was saved by Rebels netminder Owen Crudale but the biscuit came right out to Beltz who jammed it into the back of the net for Betz’s sixteenth goal of the season and second against the Rebels this year.
The score could have been worse exiting the first period but Crudale had to make several key saves to keep his team only trailing by one.
Jack Kohlmann doubled the Aviators lead at 8:08 into the second period. Elmira’s Jude Hunt picked up the loose puck at the top of his own near side faceoff circle and skated through center ice and into the offensive zone. As he gained the line on a 4-on-2, Hunt made a cross-ice pass from the faceoff dot through the slot to Kohlmann who took a one-timer that beat Crudale short side for Kohlmann’s third goal of the season and first against the Rebels this year.
Then the comeback began on Jones’ tenth goal of the season with 4:22 left in the middle stanza. Charles Panchisin picked up his own rebound along the near side wall and passed the puck to Bryce Strand at the top of the faceoff dot. Strand made a shuttle pass to Jones in the slot. Jones took a backhand shot that was saved by Aviators’ netminder Wesley Jefferson-Swint II but he couldn’t control the rebound and Jones jammed the puck home to cut the Rebels deficit in half. It was Jones’ third goal against Elmira this year.
As the second period concluded, the Aviators’ Chase Murray and Rebels Abzal Alibek went toe-to-toe to start the third period off with some spice.
With 5:26 remaining in the third, Jamaldinov tied the game at two. Caesar Björk out hustled an Aviator defender for the puck behind the Elmira net to call off icing and Björk send the puck to Jamaldinov in the near side corner. Jamaldinov skated back along the boards and cut towards the high slot and took a wrist shot that founds its way through a screen and past Jefferson-Swint II for Jamaldinov’s seventeenth goal of the season and second against Elmira.
Elmira’s Drew Jensen was called for cross-checking with 4:14 left in the game to give the Rebels the man advantage and make Janviriya the star of the game. With forty-seconds remaining in the powerplay, head coach Justin Hale called a timeout knowing the Rebels would have an offensive zone draw after Jefferson-Swint II covered the puck for a stoppage of play. After Jones won the draw deep inside the Aviators end, the puck went back to Panchisin at the near side point. Panchisin sent the biscuit up to Ryan Bunting in the corner who rimmed the puck behind the Emira net to Billy Sheridan. As Sheridan started to skate towards the goal line, he passed the biscuit to Janviriya who took a one-timer from the far side faceoff circle that beat Jefferson-Swint II to make it a 3 – 2 game and complete the comeback.
The Rebels took 25 shots alone in the third period for a game total of 43 (after only haven taken five in the first period). Jefferson-Swint II stopped 40 of those 43 shots while Crudale turned aside 32 of 34. Click HERE for the complete box score.
The Rebels have seven games remaining, four of them at home beginning next weekend with a pair of games when they host the Maryland Black Bear who have already clinched a playoff spot.
