The Battle for First Continues
This weekend will see the Rebels compete in a home and home series with the New Jersey Titans with the first game being played at IceWorks. The Rebels currently hold first place in the Eastern Division with 45 points, while the Titans are right on their tail in second place with 44 points. With a weekend sweep the Rebels could potentially distance themselves 5 points ahead of the Titans. These two teams met this past Monday and the Rebels handed the Titans a 4-0 loss. Darion Hanson has been playing outstanding as of late and should be riding high going into this weekend after his 21-save shutout Monday night. There’s no doubt that everything will be left out on the ice this weekend during these two huge games.
Spreading the Wealth
A key to victory for the Rebels this weekend will be the continuation of secondary scoring. Dean Balsamo has consistently lit it up the lamp for the Rebels this season thus far with his team leading 17 goals, but the x-factor as of late have been the others who have been pitching in. This past Monday saw eleven different players register points in the 4-0 victory over New Jersey. If the Rebels can continue to spread the scoring wealth consistently every game, then they will have no problem making some noise in the playoffs.
Special Teams
One other big factor this weekend will be special teams. The Rebels currently sit at fifth in the league in power play percentage at 21.38% whereas the Titans see themselves towards last in the league in penalty kill percentage at 80.38%. If the Rebels can take advantage of the Titans poor penalty kill while simultaneously continuing their impressive power play, then they should not have a problem finding success this weekend.
