A three-goal second-period blitz helped the Rebels take Game 1 of the two-game North American Hockey League set, 5-1, on Friday night at Northwest Arena.

“We buried our opportunities in the second period,” Jamestown head coach Joe Coombs said. “We got a lucky break by a guy getting a puck to the net, and we sort of kept the momentum from there.”

Jamestown (9-7-1-1) outshot the Generals (5-9-1-1), 15-7, in the first period, but had nothing to show for it.

“I’m not big on any one game being any bigger than another, I’m more concerned with our process. … We’ll take the two points, but I thought the first period was very much just two teams out there playing. … There wasn’t a lot going on.”

Jamestown Rebels goalie Ryan Keane, right, makes one of his 22 saves during Friday’s North American Hockey League game at Northwest Arena. P-J photo by Chad Ecklof

The Rebels’ fortunes changed in the second 20 minutes.

Northeast’s Cam Gaudette was called for interference at the 10:46 mark of the period and Jamestown took just nine seconds to capitalize. A scramble faceoff was won by the Rebels before the puck was moved to the point. Nick Stuckless’ shot was redirected by Alex Frye and eventually found the stick of Lukas Uhler, who found the back of the net for his third goal of the season.

“We’re a very simple power play,” Coombs said. “We want to shoot the puck first and make plays off the shot. It worked for us tonight.”

Less than four minutes later, Jamestown made it 2-0 when Sam Anzai, from behind the goal line, threw the puck toward the crease where it bounced off the back of Northeast goaltender Mark Sturma’s left leg and into the net.

With 2:45 remaining in the period, the Rebels struck again as Caleb Price threw a puck in front that stopped just outside the crease. While being shielded from the puck by his man, Colin Schmidt used one hand to shovel the puck into the net with his stick and make it 3-0.

“I thought we directed a lot of traffic at them. I thought our shots were good. I don’t know if our net presence was there,” Coombs said. ” … In general we shot the puck from a distance, which I like to see because it causes confusion.”

The Generals showed signs of life very early in the third period as Louis Boudon carried the puck to the side of the Jamestown net, waited for his defender to go down on the ice, then slid the puck in front where Clark Kerner jammed it home for his first goal of the season.

“I wasn’t happy with our first shift of the third period, but they responded again after that,” Coombs said. “We’ll take it and hopefully build off of it.”

The Rebels regained control of the game over the next several minutes and essentially put the game away at the 9:19 mark as Frye, with the puck on edge, took a slapshot that ricocheted off Sturma’s stick and into the net for a 4-1 lead.

“You could tell right after we got that fourth goal, they were done,” Coombs said. ” … We haven’t responded to those kind of leads all year.”

NOTES: Uhler scored his second of the night and fourth of the season with 6:55 remaining. … Ryan Keane stopped 22 of 23 shots for the win in net. … Sturma stopped 38 of 43 Jamestown shots. … Frye had a pair of assists while Seth Bergeron, Augustine Moore, Jake Felker, Price, Lewis Crosby, Schmidt, Max Helgeson and Stuckless each had one assist for the Rebels. … Ryan Rowland added an assist on Kerner’s goal for the Generals.