The Rebels completed a weekend sweep against the Kenai River Brown Bears last night by defeating the visitors 3-0 behind a 30 save shutout performance by goaltender Trevor Micucci. It was the team’s third straight win and put their record at 19-10 with one game left before the break.
The first period had a lot of end to end action. Then Frankie Spellman entered Kenai’s zone and passed it down low to Andrew Bellant. Bellant then dished it off to Dean Balsamo who skated behind the net and took a short side shot that beat Brown Bear’s goalie Brian Baker. It was a good goal for Balsamo but one that Baker would like to have back.
Although there was no scoring in the second, Kenai did have its chances. Defenseman Brennan Kapcheck took a two minute roughing penalty and an unsportsmanlike penalty putting the Rebels on a 5-3 penalty kill. The Brown Bears took a barrage of shots but Micucci stood tall make several key saves to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.
Heading into the third period and clinging onto a one goal lead, Balsamo went down low and passed the puck back Michael Underwood on the point. Underwood fed Jerry Miettuten who took a blast and beat Baker putting the Rebels up 2-0 with less then two minutes into the final period. Although it appeared that Balsamo redirected the shot into the net, the goal was awarded to Miettuten for his fifth goal of the season.
Keani’s Jake Hartje took a cross checking penalty putting the Rebels on the power play. A give and go between Miettuten and Mason Van Tuyl help set up Mike Merulla enabling him to beat Baker on another weak goal sealing the victory. Baker had 32 saves on the night.
Balsamo and Miettuten had two points each. The shut out was Micucci’s second of the season. Click here for the box score.
The Rebels finish out the weekend tonight at 5:00pm against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights on Teddy Bear Toss Night at IceWorks.
