Over the weekend the Rebels faced-off against the New Jersey Titans in Middletown, NJ. This was the first time this season that the Rebels made the trip there and just the second weekend these teams have played each other. The previous meeting between these two teams was the home opening weekend for the Rebels when the Titans spoiled it by sweeping them. Saturday’s game was the NAHL Game of the Week, so fans could enjoy some great hockey for free. Both the Titans and the Rebels had 28 points going into the weekend, so it was truly a battle for second place.
On Saturday, the game started out quiet as no one scored in the first 20 minutes of play. Although in the 2nd period it was the Titans who got on the board first after they scored on the power play. The score would remain 1-0 Titans until Alex Frye beat newly acquired Titans’ goalie Ryan Winter. With a 1-1 score we headed into overtime to decide a winner. While Noah West played phenomenal between the pipes on Saturday, stopping 28 shots, the Titans found a way to beat him in the 3-on-3 OT to give them the win and sole possession of 2nd place. The Rebels still managed to gain a point and still had a chance to capture 2nd place if they won the next day in regulation.
Less than 24 hours later these two teams went at it again for another 60 minutes. This time though it was all Rebels from the start as Lewis Crosby scored 4:07 into the first period, giving his team their first lead of the weekend. Alex Frye would add to that lead with under a minute to go in the first on a short-handed goal. The Rebels picked up in the 2nd period where they left off in the first. As not even :30 seconds into the middle period it was Colin Schmidt who scored on the power play to give the Rebels a 3-0 lead. With more penalties being called than there were shots combined it made for a lot of man-advantages. Rebels went 1/6 all game whereas the Titans went 0/8 on the power play. When the 3rd period started it was another early goal from a Rebel player and this time it was Jake Felker. Rebels just had to hold off the Titans for the next 18 minutes and they would jump into 2nd place bumping the Titans down to 3rd. Thanks to a stellar performance in net by Ryan Keane, the Rebels won the game by a final of 4-0. Keane got his first shutout of the season stopping all 31 shots the Titans threw at him. He had this to say about getting his first shutout this season “It was a good team win and I had a great group of guys in front of me that made it easy on me”. Keane also had this to say when asked if the Rebels can snap the Tomahawks long win streak “Absolutely, it is a good opportunity for our team to showcase our talent and get revenge on them”. The Rebels also extended their point-streak to six games and finally got their first win over New Jersey this season. With two goals and one assist over the weekend, Alex Frye is now on an eight-game point streak and is averaging a point-per-game.
This weekend though will be a lot tougher as the red-hot Johnstown Tomahawks come to the Northwest Arena. They are currently on a 17-game win streak and are not only the number one team in the East but also in the league (24-4). The Rebels have only played them once during their current streak and that game was back on November 7th and resulted in a 3-2 loss for the Rebels. One of the four blemishes on the Tomahawks record came at the hands of the Rebels way back on October 5th which was the home opener for Johnstown. The Rebels have always played the Tomahawks tight but with four players in the top five overall for points it is not surprising that the Tomahawks are on this remarkable run. The Rebels have their own streak that they do not want to end as do the Tomahawks, so these two games are going to be huge as first and second place in the East clash here in Jamestown, NY. For ticket information call 716-484-2624.
