Trailing by two entering the second period, the visiting Rebels scored five unanswered goals en route to a 6 – 4 win over the Northeast Generals in game one of this two-game series at the New England Sports Village.
Luke deVries, Klaus Jogi, Ryan Bunting, Charles Panchisin, and Kris Samitis scored the middle stanza goals to lead the comeback.
It was the Rebels second straight win.
At 8:57 remaining in the opening period Sonny DiNubile was called for holding to give the Generals the man advantage. A minute and a half later Ryan Remick gave Northeast a 1 – 0 lead. Playing in a box, Remick had the puck at the near side faceoff circle and sent it back to veteran Sixten Jennersjo at the far side point. Jennersjo skated up towards the circle and made a cross-ice pass through the slot to Remick who took a one-timer that beat Rebels netminder Jack Fialkoff high, short side for Remick’s seventeenth goal of the season and third against Philadelphia.
With one second remaining in the first, Jacob Wilson gave Northeast a 2 – 0 lead. Wilson picked up a bouncing puck at the near side faceoff dot inside the Rebels zone and took a wrist shot that found its way through a screen as well as Fialkoff’s five hole and into the back of the net for Wilson’s eighth of the season.
Instead of wilting, the Rebels took control of the game by scoring five unanswered goals in the second period beginning with deVries at 5:15 into the middle stanza. Ryan Bunting brought the puck up from the top of his own end, through center ice and into the offensive zone. As he gained the line, he passed the biscuit to Charles Panchisin on his right. As Panchisin skated down towards the goal line, he made a centering pass through the slot to deVries who redirected the biscuit past Northeast goaltender Toby Hopp and into the back of the net for deVries second of the season.
Jogi tied the game at 6:56 of the second. As Thomas Neu gained the offensive zone line, he passed the biscuit to Billy Sheridan on his left and Sheridan skated down towards the Generals net. Before circling the cage, Sheridan made a centering pass out to Jogi in the slot and Jogi slammed the biscuit passed Hopp for his eighth tally of the year.
Bunting gave the Rebels a 3 – 2 lead with 7:45 remaining in the period. After the puck was dumped down deep into the Northeast zone, it was retrieved by Hopp behind his own goal line. Hopp went to play the biscuit and sent a pass up along the near side boards but it was intercepted by Brock Jones who threw the puck towards the open net. Hopp sprawled to make the save but the rebound came out to bunting in the slot and he put it into the back of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
Panchisin doubled the Rebels lead with 5:32 left in the second. After the Generals won the draw deep inside the Rebels zone, Fialkoff made a save and the deep rebound came out to Panchisin at the top of the far side circle. Panchisin skated through center ice and into the offensive zone. As he reached the faceoff dot, he stopped and took a wrist shot that beat Hopp long side for his ninth goal of the season. Panchisin had three points in the game.
Peter Wickström Stumer replaced Hopp in the Northeast net.
Samitis made it 5 – 2 with 3:15 remaining in the middle stanza. With play deep inside the Generals zone, the puck went back to Julian Brown at the far side point. Brown lobbed the puck on net that was saved by Wickstrom-Stumer but the rebound came right out to Samitis on the doorstep and the tall forward jammed the puck into the back of the cage for his eleventh of the season.
Northeast’s Joseph McGraw scored with two-seconds remaining in the second to make it 5 – 3. Neu recorded his third goal of the season with 8:17 remaining in the third period to give the Rebels a 6 – 3 lead. The Generals’ Jacob Wilson made it a 6 – 4 with 2:21 left in the game to close out the scoring.
Fialkoff, who had to make several key saves throughout the contest, turned aside 40 of 44 shots while the Generals goaltenders combined to stop 26 of 32. Click here for the complete box score.
Game two of this two-game series at the New England Sports Village is tonight at 7:00PM. The Rebels look to complete the sweep and sweep the season series against the Generals.
