Twin brothers Gary and Paul Gait scored five goals each, leading the Washington Power to an 18–15 win Thursday night over the Ottawa Rebel at the Rebel’s new home, the Ottawa Civic Centre, in front of 5,308 fans.

This was the first game at the Civic Centre after a midseason move from the Corel Centre.

Both teams had to adjust their transition game because the players’ benches are on opposite sides of the floor. They adjusted quickly and it never actually became a factor. The goaltenders' long passes down the middle were taken away because the scoreboard is much lower here, as Devin Dalep found out when a bomb to one of his players hit the scoreboard and bounced back to a Rebel player in his zone. Passes by both goalies after that were made to the outside lanes.

Washington took a 3–0 lead in the first five minutes before Mike Benedict scored a power play goal at 8:58 of the first quarter on a neat passing play from John Tarbell and Chris Konopliff. Benedict scored fourteen seconds later on a quick breaking pass from Stephen Evans to bring the Rebel to within one, and Ottawa had two goals on only four shots. Paul Gait then scored for the Power, then Gary, then Paul from Gary, and the Power was ahead 6–2. The arena announcer, Stunt Man Stu, joked that he was getting tired of repeating himself when announcing the goal scorers and assists. Jamie Raffan got the Rebel to 6–3 to end the scoring in the first quarter.

Opening the second quarter, Ryan Painter got his first of four in the game on a neat little play. Mike Benedict, on his way off the floor, passed to Dan Marohl, who sent it to a streaking Painter and he beat Dalep. Ottawa now was within two, but then the Power ran off three goals, all with the Gaits in on the scoring. The second of these three was by Josh Sims, who scooped up a pass right in front of Matt Disher and made a beautiful deke and fake before firing the ball into the net. Paul Gait, who on this goal showed how strong he is, scored the third goal of the set. He just bored his way past the Rebel defenders to score.

Four more goals were scored before the end of the half, the last by Ryan Painter being the most exciting. Ottawa called a timeout with six seconds remaining. Play started in the Ottawa end, where Benedict, on the run, passed to Konopliff, who was also on the run. He fired the ball to Painter, cutting across the crease. The score at the half was Washington 10, Ottawa 7.

In the second half, both teams scored four goals in each quarter, with back and forth action and good scoring chances at both ends. Gary Gait scored his fourth of the night with 18 seconds remaining in the third, with an assist from Paul, then opened the fourth quarter scoring with his fifth of the game, unassisted right off the faceoff, just seven seconds in.

Washington outshot Ottawa in the game, 63–48, and while Matt Disher was a busy goaltender, his play for the Rebel was great. With 7:38 to go in the fourth, Andrew Leyshon replaced Disher, to allow Ottawa to pull the goalie with every possession. This, plus a major penalty to Washington's Brian Reese, gave Ottawa some good scoring chances, leading to two goals by Konopliff in the last minute.

An entertaining game tonight; the Civic Centre is a very good arena to watch the game. The crowd noise is louder, and the fans really got into the game. The move appears to be a good one. Now, if only Mike Benedict had a twin brother.

BOX SUMMARY
                                      1  2  3  4     TOT
Washington Power (8-5)                6  4  4  4  --  18
Ottawa Rebel (2-11)                   3  4  4  4  --  15

WASHINGTON POWER              OTTAWA REBEL
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
G Gait         5 - 4     9    Benedict       4 - 6    10
P Gait         5 - 4     9    Konopliff      3 - 3     6
Cantebene      2 - 3     5    Painter        3 - 3     6
Sims           2 - 3     5    Evans          2 - 2     4
Rosa           1 - 2     3    Tarbell        1 - 2     3
F Jenner       0 - 2     2    Marohl         1 - 1     2
Halladay       1 - 0     1    Raffan         1 - 1     2
Horsey         1 - 0     1    O'Brien        0 - 2     2
Shearer        1 - 0     1    Serr           0 - 2     2
Brothers       0 - 1     1    
Dalep          0 - 1     1
Gallant        0 - 1     1
Wills          0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           63    Shots on goal           48
Saves made by (GA)      33    Saves made by (GA)      45
   Dalep (15)        33          Disher (17)       42
                                 Leyshon (1)        3
Penalties               12    Penalties                7
Penalty Minutes         30    Penalty Minutes         17
Power Play Chances       7    Power Play Chances      12
Power Play Goals         1    Power Play Goals         5
   P Gait             1          Konopliff          2
                                 Benedict           1
                                 Evans              1
                                 Painter            1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Loose Balls             67    Loose Balls             65
   P Gait             7          Benedict          10
   Gallant            7          Hill               7
   G Gait             6          Painter            7
   Reese              6
Faceoffs Won            18    Faceoffs Won            18
   Halladay     (18-18)          McKeracher   (13-18)
                                 Raffan       ( 3- 0)
                                 Konopliff    ( 2- 0)

   *** STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH OTTAWA REBEL ***