Klaus Jogi scored two goals, but the visiting Rebels fell to New Hampshire Mountain Kings 5 – 3 in the first game ever played between the franchises.
The loss snapped the Rebels’ two-game winning streak.
The Mountain Kings opened the scoring just 3:55 into the first period. With play inside the Rebels zone, New Hampshire’s Sean Bradley brought the puck from the near side corner, behind the net and up the far side wall and sent it back to Tanner Brouwer at corner. Brouwer skated up the far side boards towards the point where he passed it to defenseman Will Murphy. Murphy moved up to the wall and took a shot that beat Rebels netminder Jack Fialkoff to make it a 1 – 0 game.
New Hampshire doubled their lead with 5:38 remaining in the opening period when Nick Reif intercepted a Rebels pass along the near side wall inside the offensive zone. As Reif went towards the net, he cut across the slot and deked around Fialoff depositing the puck into the back of the net for Reif’s fourth goal of the season.
Jogi scored his first goal of the game just 1:54 into the middle stanza to cut the Rebels deficit in half. Shawn Ramsey started the play from his own near side faceoff dot and sent a long, cross-ice pass up to Greg Spitznagel just outside the offensive zone along the far side boards. As Spitznagel was being checked, he made a shuttle pass to Jogi. As Jogi gained the line, he took a shot from just inside the faceoff circle that beat Mountain Kings goaler Aiden Wright long side for Jogi’s second goal of the season.
New Hampshire regained their two-goal lead at 8:20 of the second period when Kai Dunits picked up the loose puck at the top of the slot and took a turnaround shot that found its way through a screen and past Fialkoff to make it 3- 1.
The Mountain Kings made it 4 – 1 at 5:52 into the third period when Sean Bradley redirected a Brouwer shot that beat Fialkoff short side.
The Rebels cut their deficit in half at 8:06 into the third when Spitznagel picked up the loose puck at the far side faceoff circle and cut towards the slot. As he went around a New Hampshire defenseman, he passed the puck back through the crease to Jogi who redirected the biscuit past Wright for his second goal of the game.
Evan Johnson made it 4 – 3 with 3:57 left in the game when he took a wrist shot from the top of the slot that founds its way through traffic and past Wright for Johnson’s second of the season.
Dunits scored his second goal of the contest with 2:04 remaining in regulation to make it 5 – 3 and close out the scoring.
Fialkoff stopped 25 of 30 shots in defeat while Wright turned aside 23 of 26. Click here for the complete box score. Game two of this two-game series will be played tonight at 7:30PM at the Tri-Town Ice Arena.
