ODENTON, Md. — The Philadelphia Rebels were shut out by the Maryland Black Bears, 3-0, Saturday night at Piney Orchard Ice Arena, dropping both games of their season-opening home-and-home series.
After a scoreless opening period, Maryland broke through 90 seconds into the second. Noi Jonasson capitalized on a rebound to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead.
The Rebels entered the third trailing by one before Maryland doubled its advantage on the power play. Joseph Gasperko redirected a shot past Mathieu Raymond 2:30 into the period to make it 2-0.
Philadelphia pushed for an answer, generating 15 shots in the third period and eventually pulling Raymond for an extra attacker. Brayden Wade sealed the game with an empty-net goal with 25 seconds remaining.
Maryland goaltender Michael Iliff stopped all 30 shots he faced to earn the shutout. Raymond made 23 saves on 25 shots before leaving for the extra attacker. The Rebels finished with a 30-26 advantage in shots.
Special teams played a role for the second straight night. Maryland finished 1-for-7 on the power play, while Philadelphia went 0-for-6. Both teams were assessed 18 penalty minutes.
The loss drops the Rebels to 0-2-0-0 to begin the season, while Maryland improves to 2-0-0-0.
Philadelphia returns to action Wednesday when it visits the New Jersey Titans for a 3 p.m. puck drop in Middletown, New Jersey.