The East Division’s two top teams will play at 7:00pm tonight when the first place Northeast Generals travel to the Class of 1923 Arena to take on the undefeated Philadelphia Rebels.
Rebels vs. Northeast Generals
What a difference a year makes! All of the stats from last year have to be completely disregarded due to the Generals amazing turnaround. Last season, the Rebels went 12 – 0 against the then new team in the East division outscoring them 65 – 12, including four shutouts. The Rebels were successful 32% of the time on the powerplay against the Generals while in turn Northeast converted on 14% of their chances. Returners Andrew Bellant led all Rebels’ scorers with 24 points (10 goals and 14 assists) last year against the Generals while Ryan Patrick had twelve points (4 goals and 8 assists) against them.
Northeast Generals Overview
The Generals enter tonight’s game with the best record in the East Division with a 12 – 3 mark for 24 points. Northeast has already tripled last season’s total wins. The Generals are coming off of a thrilling 6 – 5 overtime victory against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. Last weekend Northeast took two of three games against the Knights as the high scoring Generals averaged five goals a game. The Generals have scored 61 goals in 15 games so far – most in the North American Hockey League. They also have given up 44 goals, second most allowed in the league. Forward Louis Boudon leads the team in points with 19 (7 goals and 12 assists) while Colin Bilek has scored the most goals with eight (18 total points). Luke Perunovich leads the Generals defensemen with ten points (all assists). New Jersey native Ryan Rowland has the most penalty minutes on the team with 40. Perunovich and Boudon each lead the team with +11 +/- ratio.
The Generals are ranked sixth in the league on the power play having converted 22.4% of their chances while they are fifteenth in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 78.3% of the time.
Northeast’s goalie tandem of David Fessenden and Marko Sturma have a combined 2.87 goals against and a .919 save percentage with two shutouts (one each).
Rebels Overview
The Rebels are in second place in the East Division with a 10 – 0 for 20 points. They have five games in-hand on the Generals. The Rebels are coming off of a weekend sweep over the Johnstown Tomahawks. The team has scored 34 goals in ten games (sixth best in the league) and they have allowed 14 (least amount in the league). Bellant leads the team in total points (Nine) and goals (four). He also leads the team in penalty minutes with 32. Diarmad DiMurro leads the defensemen with eight points (2 goals and 6 assists). DiMurro also has a team best +9 +/- ratio.
The Rebels are second in the league on the power play having converted on 35.5% of the time while are sixth in the league on the penalty kill having prevented the opposition from scoring 84.8% of the time.
Goaltenders Ryan Keane and Eli Billing have a combined 1.38 goals against average and a .940 save percentage with one shutout (Keane).
