The Castlegar Rebels jumped to the top of the standings in the Neil Murdoch Division after a three-game winning streak from Friday to Sunday.
The Rebels first took down the Spokane Braves 4 – 2 in Spokane Friday, Sept. 20 on goals from Aaron Petten, Tyler Bryant, Aaron Brewer and Ren Mason. The Rebels power play was a respectable 50 per cent on the night, while holding the Braves to just one man-advantage marker of their own.
Nate Rabbit worked all 60 minutes between the pipes, stopping 42 of 44 shots from the Braves.
On Saturday, the Braves looked to rebound in Castlegar but the Rebels were having none of it.
The Rebels had six goal-scorers on the night, with Hank Hilts finding the net in the first and third. The second period was a showcase of Rebels offence, with Lindan Calliou, Ed Lindsey and Aaron Petten finding the twine.
Quinn Klimchuk and Tyler Bryant added two more on the power play in the second half of the third in a 7 – 2 final that looked mostly effortless for the Rebels.
Patrick Zubick stopped 33 shots in his second start of the young season.
On Sunday, the Rebels travelled to Grand Forks to take on the Border Bruins, having dropped a close 3 – 2 overtime decision to them in Castlegar the week before.
The Rebels opened the scoring near the halfway mark of the first on Bryant’s third of the season but the Bruins countered late in the period on a shot from Lincoln Lane. Less than a minute later, however, the Rebels struck agin when Carson Wornig fed Mike Bhatoa for his first goal as a Castlegar Rebel.
Seth Schmidt added to the Castlegar lead on a power play goal late in the second but the pesky Bruins pulled within one for a second time with just 1:49 on the clock, on a shot from last year’s 50-point-getter, Jackson Purvis.
It was more back-and-forth in the third as Darren Medeiros put his team up by two with 6:22 to play, with veterans Kody Disher and Quinn Klimchuk assisting on the play. Though Lane would get his second of the night for the Bruins near the five-minute mark, newly acquired forward Derek Georgopoulos buried an empty netter to seal the deal.
Defenceman Aaron Brewer now leads the Rebels points race at nine (three goals and six assists), while forward Darren Medeiros is hot on his heels with a total of eight points.
