Ryan Bunting and Caesar Björk scored third period powerplay goals to propel the Rebels to a 4 – 1 win over the visiting Rochester Jr. Americans. It was the first time in five tries this season that the Rebels defeated Rochester.
The man advantage goals were the fourth respectively this season for Bunting and Björk to lead the team. It was only the third time this year that the Rebels scored two or more goals on the powerplay (September 21 vs. Johnstown and October 29 vs. New Jersey).
Brock Jones’ first period goal set the tone of the game.
Jones opened the scoring just fifty seconds into the contest. After Jones won the draw deep inside his own end, he kicked the puck back to Bryce Strand at the bottom of near side faceoff circle. Strand send the biscuit to Joe Stauber back behind the Rebels net and Stauber passed the biscuit to Charles Panchisin in the far side corner. Panchisin lobbed the puck into center ice where it bounced of a Rochester player and to a breaking Jones down the boards. As Jones gained the line, he got around a pair of Jr. Americans defenders and walked in all alone on Rochester netminder Danick Leroux. As Jones reached the goalmouth, he stopped and cut towards his right and lifted the puck up and over the fallen Leroux for Jones’ fifth goal of the season.
Rochester’s Jaden Dyke even the score with 5:25 remaining in the first period. As the Rebels tried to break out of their own zone, Jr. Americans’ forward Calle Karlsson intercepted the puck at center ice and cut towards his left and into the offensive zone by the near side boards. As Karlsson went towards the net, he threw the puck from the goal line on net that was saved by Owen Crudale but the rebound came right out to Dyke on the doorstep and Dyke poked the puck past Crudale for his thirteenth tally of the season.
After a scoreless second period in which the Rebels were outshot 13 to 5, the powerplay kicked into high gear in the third period.
After a skirmish at center ice which resulted in giving the Rebels the man advantage at 3:22 into third period, it was Bunting’s goal a minute and ten seconds later that became the eventual game winner. As the Jr. Americans tried to clear the puck out of their own end, it was kept in the zone by Luke Janviriya just inside the near side blueline. Janviriya send the biscuit up to Billy Sheridan at the faceoff dot. Sheridan looked and made a seamless pass through the slot to Bunting who took a backdoor one-timer that beat Leroux to give the Rebels a 2 – 1 lead.
With 5:14 remaining in the game, Rochester was called for a bench minor to negate their own powerplay and make it four-on-four hockey. When Stauber’s cross-checking ending with five minutes left, Björk scored forty-seven seconds later to make it 3 – 1. As Ruslan Jamaldinov set up the play at the top of the point, he sent the biscuit to Abzal Alibek at the top of the near side faceoff circle. Alibek stepped up and took a wrist shot that went wide of the net but the puck caromed off the end wall and directly to Björk who was to the left of Leroux. Björk took a sharp angle, one-timer by the goal line that beat Leroux for Björk’s team high sixteenth goal of the season.
Bunting added an empty net goal with two minutes remaining to close out the scoring and make it a 4 – 1 game.
Crudale, who is second in the league in saves with the most saves at 981, turned aside 33 of 34 shots while Leroux stopped 19 of 22. Click HERE for the complete box score.
