Johnstown Tomahawks vs. Aston Rebels Overview
The Johnstown Tomahawks visit IceWorks this weekend to play two pivotal games against the Rebels. Despite having two games in hand on the Rebels, the Tomahawks are ten points behind Aston. If the Rebels sweep this weekend, the distance between first and second place widens exponentially.
The Rebels have beaten the Tomahawks five out of the six times these two teams have met. This weekend will be the last time during the regular season that Johnstown will play at IceWorks. Although the Rebels have won five games do not let the win record fool you. The Rebels have outscored Johnstown by only three (14 – 11). Two games have been decided by shutouts. The Rebels only have scored four goals on nineteen tries on the power play (21%) while the Tomahawks only have scored three goals out of twenty one tries on the power play (15%).
Donovan Ott has the most points against the Rebels with seven (4 goals and 3 assists). He is followed by four players who each have three points: Dalton Hunter, Nick Bruce, Filips Buncis and Andy Pilewicz. Drew Hotte has been in five of the six games. He has allowed eleven goals in the five goals. He has a 2.20 goals against average and a .916 save percentage with one shutout.
Dom Garcia has the most points against the Tomahawks with six (3 goals and 3 assists). There are three players who each have four points: Gianluca Esteves, Brennan Kapcheck and Aaron Maguyon. Mareks Mitens also has played in five games during the series. He has let up nine goals in those games. He has a 1.80 goals against average and a .926 save percentage with one shutout.
Johnstown Tomahawks Overview
The Tomahawks are currently in second place in the East Division with a 32-11-2-1 record for 67 points, ten points behind the Rebels although the Tomahawks have two games in hand. Johnstown is coming off of a 3 – 2 shootout win over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. Johnstown has won six of their last ten games. They have scored 163 goals (fourth most in the league) and have allowed 108 (third least in the league) through 46 games.
The Tomahawks are led by Dalton Hunter’s 48 points (24 goals and 24 assists). He is accompanied by Nicholas Bruce’s 45 points (17 goals and 28 assists) and Donovan Ott’s 42 points (25 goals and 17 assists). Ott has the most goals on the team with 25. Adam Pilewicz leads the Tomahawks’ defensemen with 24 points (3 goals and 21 assists). Hunter leads the team with seven game winning goals.
Johnstown is ranked fourteenth in the league on the power play with an 18% conversion ratio while they are ranked eighth in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 83.5% of the time. Thomas Horn leads the team with 184 penalty minutes. Hunter has the team’s best +/- ratio of +34.
Goaltenders Drew Hotte and Vinnie Purpura have a combined 2.31 goals against average and a .911 save percentage along with six shut outs (five for Hotte).
Aston Rebels Overview
The Rebels lead the East Division with a record of 38-9-1 for 77 points. They are coming off of a 3 – 0 win over the Northeast Generals, and they have won seven of their last ten games. They have scored 172 goals (second best in the league) and have allowed only 85 goals (least amount in the NAHL) through 48 games.
The Rebels are led by Andrew Bellant’s 46 points (24 goals and 22 assists). He is followed by Gvido Jansons’ 40 points (18 goals and 22 assists) as well as Drew Blackmun (15 goals and 24 assists) and Dom Garcia’s 39 points (11 goals and 28 assists). Bellant also leads the team in goals with 24 and game winning goals with five. Jansons also leads the team’s defensemen with 40 points.
The Rebels are ranked third in the league on the power play with a 23.9% conversion ratio while they are ranked second in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 86% of the time. Bellant leads the team with 146 penalty minutes. Brennan Kapcheck leads the team with a +33 +/- ratio.
The goaltending tandem of Mareks Mitens (1.55 GAA and .931 SV%) and Jack Leavy (1.92 GAA and .919 SV%) has a combined 1.74 goals against average and a .925 save percentage with sixteen shutouts, a new NAHL record.
