Rebels sneak past Senators for first win
Nicolas Paolucci (1) scored the game winner with 3:40 remaining in the third period as the Rebels took an all-Mississauga showdown with a 2-1 win over the Senators for their first win of the tournament.
The Rebels, who gained entry to the showcase via a 1-0 triple-overtime triumph over the Grey-Bruce Highlanders, got a 31-save performance from goaltender Nicolas Sangha to improve to 1-2-0.
“Really proud of our guys today, we’ve worked hard to get here,” said Paolucci. “We’ve been in some close games.
“It’s a lot of fun anytime you get to play against some of your buddies from high school,” he added. “We laugh about it after, but out on the ice we all want to win.”
Ryan O’Toole (4) opened the scoring for the Rebels on the power play 4:08 into the second frame before the Senators’ Chase MacIntyre (2) knotted things up at one on the man advantage.
Alex Mbuyi made 27 saves for the Senators as they dropped to 1-1-0 with two more round robin games coming up on Friday.
The Rebels take on TPH Hockey (0-3-0) in their round robin finale at 12:00pm on Friday. The Senators get a double dose on Friday, starting the day against the York-Simcoe Express (3-0-0) at 8:00am followed by a matchup against the Mississauga Reps (2-1-0) at 1:45pm.
PLAYER OF THE GAME:
Rebels – Nicolas Sangha (31 SV)
Senators – Alex Mbuyi (27 SV)
Nicolas Paolucci scores the game-winner for the Rebels.
