Shane McMahan’s wrist shot from the bottom of the circle beat Minnesota Magicians goaltender Jacob Dittmer long side to give the Rebels a 4-3 overtime victory. The Rebels have won two of three games so far in the Showcase with one game remaining.
The Magicians drew first blood when Noah Wilson received a pass at the top of the point and took a snapshot that found its way through a screen that beat Rebels goalie Jack Leavy six minutes into the game to give Minnesota a 1 – 0 lead.
With 5:51 remaining in the opening period, Rebels defenseman Brennan Kapcheck took a shot from the point that Dittmer made the initial save but couldn’t control the rebound. McMahan picked up the loose puck and put it past Dittmer to tie the game at one.
The Rebels went on the power play with 4:10 left in the first. Kapcheck was at the point and passed it to Gvido Jansons who took a blast from the top of the circle. Dittmer made the save but couldn’t control the rebound and Andreas Maier picked it up and put it in the back of the net to give the Rebels a 2 – 1 lead with 3:45 remaining in the first period.
The Rebels began the second period with having twelve seconds remaining in a power play. After the opening faceoff went into the Magicians zone, Minnesota’s Tanner Tweten went to dump the puck deep into the Rebels zone. Leavy anticipated the puck going behind the net but it hit a seam off the boards and went into an open net to tie the game at two.
Kolby Vegara was called for tipping with 6:43 left in the second putting the Magicians on the power play. With almost thirty seconds left with the extra attacker, Matthew Denham’s shot through a screen found its way to the back of the net to give the Magicians a 3 – 2 lead.
With 3:47 left in the middle stanza, Rebels forward Brendan Cherwalk brought the puck along the farside boards and towards the Magicians net. He took a backhand shot that beat Dittmer glove side to tie that game at three.
After an up and down third period, the game went into overtime. Rebels forward Drew Blackmun got tangled with a Magician’s forward. The Minnesota player walked in on Leavy but Leavy made a nice poke check. The puck went out to Jansons who head man the puck to McMahan who put it past Dittmer to give the Rebels a 4 – 3 win.
The Rebels will play the Wichita Falls tomorrow morning at 10:15am game and will return home tomorrow night.
