SEWELL, N.J. — A five-goal second period powered the Philadelphia Rebels to a 5-2 win over the Elmira Aviators on Friday night.
The opening 20 minutes featured tight checking and limited space, with Elmira holding a slight edge in shots. Philadelphia goaltender Ilja Nikitins was sharp early, stopping all eight shots he faced in the first period to keep the game even heading into intermission.
The Rebels broke through early in the second period and never looked back. Alex Lunski opened the scoring after Michael Mathison delivered a perfectly timed pass through the slot that Lunski deftly redirected past Elmira goaltender Aiden McKenna. The goal ignited the home bench and jump-started a stretch of sustained pressure from Philadelphia.
Mikey Conlon extended the lead on the power play when a shot from the point took several bounces before finding its way through traffic and past McKenna for a 2-0 advantage. Conlon struck again later in the period at even strength, firing a wrist shot by McKenna to give the Rebels a three-goal cushion.
Philadelphia continued to pile on with a pair of momentum-swinging goals late in the period. Joe Stauber scored shorthanded, jumping into the rush and burying his chance to make it 4-0. Just moments later, Jordan Brothers exited the penalty box, collected the puck in stride and broke in alone, finishing on a clean breakaway to cap the five-goal outburst and send the Rebels into the locker room with a commanding 5-0 advantage.
Elmira responded in the third period as Yianni Koukouves put the Aviators on the board midway through the period, and Shawn LaPerriere added another later to cut into the deficit.
Nikitins finished with 29 saves on 31 shots to earn the win, while McKenna stopped 14 of 19 shots for Elmira. Philadelphia converted once on two power-play opportunities and added a shorthanded goal, while Elmira went 1-for-5 on the man advantage.
With the victory, the Rebels improved to 15-17-2-6 on the season. Elmira fell to 13-17-7-2. The series continues Saturday night at Hollydell Ice Arena.