Time to Take Charge
The Rebels have a chance to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division this weekend since they play all three teams, including a matinee on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. The Rebels are tied for first place in the East Division with the New Jersey Titans with 42 points respectively while the Johnstown Tomahawks trail by 4 points and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights are in fourth place with 28 points.
Taming the Tomahawks
The Tomahawks currently have two players within the top ten in scoring in the league. Luke Lynch and Andrew Romano are tied for fifth in the league in scoring, each with 33 points. The pair has primarily been the backbone of Johnstown’s scoring thus far this season. The last time these two teams met the Rebels swept the Tomahawks in their weekend series – however, Lynch and Romano each recorded points on each of the Tomahawks goals during that series. It will be important for the Rebels to keep these two under control if they want to have success on Friday night at IceWorks.
Jousting the Knights
The Rebels and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights have played each other eight times with each team winning four of them. They will be playing on Saturday night at the Revolution Centre in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The last time these two team met was on December 20 when Braden Brown scored four goals and the Knights came back to win 5-2. Brown is the team’s leading goal scorer with 13. The Knights are coming off a 4 – 2 loss to the Kenai River Brown Bears.
Facing the Titans
These two teams sit tied atop the East Division with 42 points, although the Titans have a game in hand. Last week, they split a home-and-home series with the visiting team winning both games. The Rebels won the last game 4-0 behind a 35 save performance from Rebels goalie Darion Hanson. This is the Rebels first Monday matinee game which will be played at Middletown’s Ice World, and it will be the first of three games between these two teams. They will be playing a home-and-home series the weekend of January 22nd.
Hanson’s Hot Hand
Last weekend Darion Hanson played in both games in the Rebels’ games against the New Jersey Titans and recorded his first shutout of the season in their 4-0 victory on Saturday. Hanson posted a 1.00 GAA and a .968 save percentage during this series with the Titans, which earned him the NAHL’s Eastern Player of the Week. This should bode well for Darion’s confidence heading into the weekend, and the team will surely be playing more poised in front of him knowing that their goaltender has been a stonewall as of late.
