By SAM ROBINSON · The Rebels closed out their home series against the University of Utah on Halloween eve, completing the sweep with a 4-0 shutout over the Utes. The U…
The Rebels closed out their home series against the University of Utah on Halloween eve, completing the sweep with a 4-0 shutout over the Utes.
The Utes stuck with Garrett Fuller in net, while the Rebels started goaltender Liam Choquette, who completed his first home series with a shutout.
The Rebels took the ice in special-edition jerseys honoring the Las Vegas Wranglers, the city's first professional sports team. The ECHL franchise played in Las Vegas from 2003-15, reaching the Kelly Cup Finals in 2008 and 2012 before its owner withdrew the team's membership from the league.
The jerseys were also auctioned off to help support the UNLV Hockey program.
UNLV continued celebrating Parents Weekend by welcoming hockey families to City National Arena. Senior Mason Kelly was also recognized as his mother, Melanie, father, Eric, and brother, Carter, participated in the ceremonial puck drop. Kelly recently celebrated his 100th game with the program.
The Rebels took an early penalty in the first period but successfully killed it.
The opening half of the period was relatively tame compared with the physicality of Thursday's game. UNLV struggled with turnovers, but Choquette stood tall in the crease to keep the Utes off the scoreboard.
The Rebels opened the scoring at 13:07 when Ryder MacIntosh intercepted a pass and sent the puck to Oliver Band. Band's shot created a rebound that Luke Baker tapped in to give UNLV a 1-0 lead.
Tensions rose following the goal, with scrums and heated exchanges putting the Rebels back on the penalty kill for their second time in the period.
UNLV successfully killed the penalty, but another scrum followed the Utes' final shot of the power play, sending the Rebels back to the penalty kill.
While on the power play, Utah took an interference penalty, creating a 4-on-4 situation for 34 seconds. Once UNLV's minor penalty expired, the Utes were called for high-sticking, giving the Rebels a two-man advantage for the final eight seconds of the period and carrying a power play into the second.
Unlike Thursday's game, Utah outshot UNLV 14-8 in the opening period.
The Rebels capitalized on the two-man advantage early in the second period to record their first power-play goal of the night. Shaun Rios passed to Nagra, who returned the puck to Rios for a shot. Band finished the rebound to extend UNLV's lead to 2-0.
More than halfway through the period, the Rebels received two minor penalties for goalie interference. The Utes took a penalty of their own seconds later, creating a 4-on-3 situation.
UNLV successfully killed the four-minute penalty sequence.
A big hit from Luke Baker, followed by a save from Choquette, energized the crowd at City National Arena and sparked a "Rebels!" chant.
Utah took another penalty shortly after, giving UNLV another power-play opportunity.
The Rebels capitalized once again. Dillon Kuntz passed to Mario DiMaggio, who took a shot from near the blue line. The puck made its way through traffic in front of the net before Luke Backel tapped it in to make it 3-0.
UNLV carried its three-goal advantage into the third period after outshooting Utah 12-6 in the middle frame.
The Rebels recorded nine shots in the opening half of the third period but were unable to find the back of the net.
UNLV added its fourth and final goal at 18:17 when Hayden Siegel scored off assists from Mason Kelly and Dylan Jensen.
The Rebels celebrated Halloween with a series sweep in front of their families, making the weekend even more memorable.
"I mean, this is what you play the game for,” Siegel said. “At the end of the day, it's moments like this. Excited to get to spend time with [my parents]. You know, talk about the game, their experience."
With the win, the Rebels handed the Utes their first series loss of the season, earning a sweep against what had been UNLV's toughest matchup of the season.
"It definitely shows that we can compete with anybody, and that if we work as a team, we could probably win every game that we play," Rios said.
Three Stars
Liam Choquette - 1 SO, 28 saves
Shaun Rios - 1G
Luke Backel - 1G