BLAINE, Minn. — Oscar Djurberg scored the deciding goal in the shootout, and Mathieu Raymond stopped 32 of 33 shots as the Philadelphia Rebels defeated the Fairbanks Ice Dogs 2-1 on Thursday evening at NSC Rink 1 in their second game of the NAHL Showcase.
The victory extended Philadelphia’s winning streak to four games and improved its record to 4-2-0-0.
After a scoreless opening period, Mason Knaffla opened the scoring for Fairbanks in the second period to give the Ice Dogs a 1-0 lead.
Philadelphia answered on the power play when Jake Schultz fired a shot off the post. The rebound found the stick of former Fairbanks forward Emmet McClaine, who buried it against his former team to tie the game at one. McClaine has now scored in back-to-back games after finding the back of the net in Wednesday’s 5-0 victory over Ogden.
Neither team broke the tie in the third period, sending the contest to overtime.
The Rebels generated several scoring opportunities in the extra period. Captain Broxton Ingle rang a shot off the post, while Fairbanks goaltender Alex Woller came up with a key save on a Philadelphia 3-on-1 rush. Neither team could find the winner, forcing a shootout.
Cam Wilson opened the shootout for Philadelphia but was denied by Woller. Raymond stopped Harrison Kaszubowski on Fairbanks’ first attempt before Djurberg beat Woller to give the Rebels the advantage.
Raymond then turned aside Dane Gatmaitan and Ben Green to secure Philadelphia’s fourth consecutive victory.
Raymond finished with 32 saves, including 15 in the second period, while Woller stopped 35 of 36 shots for Fairbanks. The Rebels went 1-for-8 on the power play and killed off all six Fairbanks opportunities. Philadelphia outshot the Ice Dogs 36-33.
The victory marked Philadelphia’s second consecutive win at the NAHL Showcase following Wednesday’s 5-0 shutout of the Ogden Mustangs.
The Rebels conclude the NAHL Showcase on Friday morning against the Watertown Shamrocks.