JOHNSTOWN, PA – The Philadelphia Rebels (3-8-0-0, 6 points) fell to the Johnstown Tomahawks (3-4-2-0, 8 pts) 6-4 on the road in the final matchup of the two-game series Saturday night.
The Rebels trailed 3-1 early in the second period, but bounced back to score three of the game’s next four goals. Both teams combined for six goals in the second period and it was Trever Burns (2) who evened the score late in the period.
With 30 seconds left in the period, the short-handed Rebels won a faceoff in their own zone and sprung Burns on a breakaway. He raced to the front of the net for a beautiful backhand score.
In the third period, and ten seconds into Johnstown’s fifth power play of the night, Drake Albers ripped a slapshot into the back of the net to give the Tomahawks a 5-4 lead with just two minutes remaining in the game.
Just one minute later, an empty net goal for Johnstown put the game on ice.
Overall, it took both offenses five minutes into the game to get their first shot on goal, however the slow start did not dictate the rest of the series finale.
Philadelphia answered an early Johnstown goal in the first when Brock Jones netted his first career NAHL goal, keeping the game even after 20 minutes.
The Tomahawks jumped out to a 3-1 lead early in the second period, and had two closely quick goals by Aben and Albers just two and a half minutes into the period.
The Rebels responded convincingly with two quick goals of their own, first by Connor Sedlak (2) at five minutes into the second period, then followed by Jared Kaplowitz (1) at the eight-and-a-half minute mark.
Jack Fialkoff made 20 saves for Philadelphia in his fifth game of the season.
The Philadelphia Rebels will be back next Friday night at 7 p.m. at home against New Jersey. The game can be seen on HockeyTV.
