Tyler Stern scored a pair of goals to help lead the Rebels to a 5 – 4 win over the visiting Northeast Generals. The victory snapped Philadelphia’s two-game losing streak.
Brock Jones and Sonny DiNubile each had two assists while Max Hamstad had a goal and an assist. It was the Rebels’ first home game in a month.
Northeast entered the game in first place in the East Division and they wasted no time on getting on the board first. In fact, they scored only twenty seconds into the game. As the Rebels tried to bring the puck out of their own zone, the biscuit was cut off by Northeast’s Frank D’Ancona just inside the near side blueline. D’Ancona passed the puck to Jett Otwell on his left. Otwell cut towards the net and took a sharp angle shot that beat Rebels netminder Lukas Fursten low and long side to make it a 1 – 0 game.
The Rebels scored four unanswered goals beginning at 3:57 into the opening period on Otto Polakovs’ seventh goal of the season. The Generals’ Emerson Miller was called for tripping at 2:05 into the first to give the Rebels the man advantage. As time was winding down on the man advantage, Polakovs had the puck behind the Generals goal line and to the left of Northeast’s goalie Toby Hopp. Polakovs sent a pass back to Luke deVries at the top of the point. deVries passed the biscuit downlow to Kris Samitis who took a shot that was saved by Hopp but the rebound came right out to Polakovs on the doorstep and he jammed it home for his team high seventh goal of the season.
Billy Sheridan doubled the Rebels lead with 8:03 left in the first. Sheridan picked up the loose just outside his own far side blueline and cut through center ice and into the offensive zone. As he gained the line, he slightly turned to his left and passed it back to Sheridan at the top of the near side faceoff circle. Sheridan took a low wrist shot that found its way through a screen past Hopp for Sheridan’s first goal of the season.
Hamstad made it 3 – 1 just fifty-seven seconds into the middle stanza. DiNublie picked up the loose puck at the top of his own far side faceoff circle and made a cross-ice pass to Charles Panchisin who head manned the biscuit to Hamstad. Hamstad raced down the near side boards and cut across the goal mouth. As he was being tripped up by Hopp, Hamstad was able to lift the puck up and over the Northeast goalie for Hamstad’s third goal of the season.
Stern scored his first goal of the game at 9:33 into the second to make it 4 – 1. As Ryan Vaites picked up the loose puck inside the offensive zone just along the near side boards, he dropped it back off to Hamstad in the circle. Hamstad passed the biscuit to Stern on his right. Stern cut towards the top of the circle and took a turnaround shot that handcuffed Hopp and squeaked through his arm and into the net.
Miller cut the Generals deficit in half with 4:29 left in the middle stanza when he took a wrist shot from the top near side faceoff circle that bounced off Fursten’s stick and went up and over the goalie’s left shoulder and into the net.
Northeast made the game interesting when Ryan Remick made it 4 – 3 at 6:46 into the third period. After the Generals won the draw deep inside their own zone, the puck went up to Northeast forward Sixten Jennersjo at center ice. As Jennersjo gained the line, he passed the biscuit through the high slot to Remick on his right and Remick took a one-timer that beat Fursten for Remick’s ninth goal of the year.
Stern scored his second goal of the game with 3:54 remaining in the contest. Jones had the puck behind the Generals net and passed it out to Stern in the slot. Stern took a shot that was saved by Generals goalie Marks Slavinskis-Repe but the rebound came right out to Stern who lifted up and over the prone Northeast goaltender to make it a 5 – 3 game.
Jennersjo lit the lamp with 1:11 remaining in the game to make it 5 – 4 and close out the scoring.
Fursten stopped 31 of 35 shots while Hopp and Slavinskis-Repe turned aside 30 of 35. Click here for the complete box score.
“I’m proud of the group answering the bell” stated Rebels head coach Justin Hale. “They worked hard all week and bounced back with a team effort and team win” said Hale.
