The Castlegar Rebels turned in a better performance in game two than they did in their home-opener but still came up shy of a win against the Grand Forks Border Bruins on Saturday , Sept 15.
Grand Forks net-minder Dominic Stadnyk was peppered with 20 shots in the first, with two of them finding the mesh for an early Rebels lead.
The first goal came from Derek Georgopoulos at 15:13 while shorthanded. Aaron Brewer and Darren Medeiros had assists on the play. The second came on the power play at 5:58 from Chase Reddin, with Brewer picking up his second assist of the night. Stadnyk had little chance on the second goal with both Matt Wojak and Cam McLennan in the box for tripping on the same play.
At the other end, Patrick Zubick had a much quieter start to his night, facing just 5 shots from the Bruins in the first period.
There was no scoring in the second and both teams had two failed opportunities on minor penalties.
In the third, the Rebels got caught with too many men early on but were able to kill off the bench minor thanks, in part, to good goaltending from Zubick. With 11 minutes to play, however, Connor Gross made it a one goal game with an assist from Jackson Purvis and Matt Wojak.
After successfully surviving five straight minors, Purvis beat Zubick who was caught sprawling way out of his net with just over four minutes to play, ultimately sending the game to overtime at 2 – 2.
Purvis decided to take matters into his owns again and got the game winner at 2:36. Connor and Reid Robertson assisted on the goal.
The loss was the second straight for the Rebels in the regular season.
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On Sunday, Nate Rabbitt got the call in net for the Rebels in an afternoon start against the Kimberley Dynamiters. Both he and Kimberley’s Jeremy Mousseau had to be sharp in goal in a back-and-forth tilt that saw the Dynamiters outshoot the Rebels 32 – 24.
Kimberley opened the scoring on a power play marker from Dylan Sibbald just over three minutes in but the Rebs answered back at 11:37 on a goal from defenceman Aaron Brewer; Darren Medeiros assisted on the play.
But as would be the case for all the game, every time the Rebels would even things up, Kimberley found a way to pull ahead. The 2 – 1 goal came from Jason Richter who gobbled up a wraparound chance from Jared March at 6:49.
In the second, the Rebels even things up again, with Medeiros getting his off a quick snap on a fast breakaway that was almost corralled by Mousseau but stayed low and managed to get over the line.
The Rebels had better puck control in the second and it almost halfway into the period before the Dynamiters recorded any shots on goal.
The game heated up in the third, locked at two apiece, and the Rebs seemed intent on driving hard to the finish. A two-on-one break narrowly missed giving them a very early lead in the third but near the halfway mark Brewer came through with his second of the night, slipping one in on a sharp angle from Mousseau’s left side.
Brewer now leads the team’s scoring race with two goals and three assists in three games.
At the 7:10 mark, a patient second-effort from forward Jason Richter saw him pick up his own re-bound and bang it home to level the game and send it to overtime.
It was a quick ending to the overtime, however, as Brandon Bogdanek wasted no time finding the net.
The Rebels now take the show on the road for a game in Spokane against the Braves on Friday, Sept. 20. The Braves have yet to find a win this season, as well.
