The Johnstown Tomahawks will visit the Class of 1923 Arena for two games this weekend. Friday night’s game starts at 7:10pm while Saturday’s begins at 7:35pm. These two games will be the last two home games before the holiday break for the Rebels. They will play one final game before the break which will take place on Wednesday, December 20 at 7:00pm at Middletown’s Ice World against the New Jersey Titans.
Rebels vs. Tomahawks Overview
This will be games seven and eight between these two team out of a total of twelve during the season. The Rebels have won five of the six by a combined score of 24 to 8. This weekend’s games will be the last played at the Class of 1923 Arena between these two teams this season. The remaining four games will be played at the 1st Summit Cambria County War Memorial.
The last time the Tomahawks and Rebels met was back on Monday, October 30 when the Rebels were led by Aaron Maguyon’s four goals en route to a 6 – 1 victory.
Ben Schmidling leads the Tomahawks in points against the Rebels with five (1 goal and 4 assists). Cade Groton has three points but two of them are goals against Philadelphia, which leads his team against his rival from the Eastern part of Pennsylvania. Believe it or not, Johnstown is 0 for 23 on the powerplay in six games against the Rebels. Johnstown’s goalies have a combined 3.83 goals against average and .867 save percentage against the Rebels.
The Rebels have three players who have five points respectively against the Tomahawks: Andrew Bellant (2 goals and 3 assists), Diarmad DiMurro (2 goals and 3 assists) and Maguyon (4 goals and 1 assist). Maguyon has scored the most goals against Johnstown with four. The Rebels are 7 for 26 (27%) on the powerplay against them. Rebels’ goalies Eli Billing and Ryan Keane have a combined 1.33 goals against average and .938 save percentage and one shutout (Keane) against the Tomahawks.
Johnstown Tomahawks Overview
The Tomahawks enter this weekend with a 9-19-1-1 record for twenty points. They are in last place in the East Division, nineteen points behind division leader Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights. The Tomahawks have won three out of their last five games, and they are coming off of a 2 – 0 home win against the Knights. Forward Samuel Solensky leads the team in total points with 23 (9 goals and 14 assists). Schmidling has fifteen points (7 goals and 8 assists) while Joe Kile (9 goals and 5 assists) and Donovan Ott (7 goals and 7 assists) each have fourteen points. Solensky and Kile share the team lead in goals with nine. Solensky also has two game winning goals. Forward Mitchell Hale leads the team in penalty minutes with 94 (third most in the league).
Johnstown has scored 71 goals (second least in the league) in 30 games while they have allowed 109 (third most in the league). The Tomahawks are sixteenth in the league on the powerplay converting on 19.4% of their chances with the extra attacker while they are nineteenth in the league on the penalty kill having prevented the opposition from scoring 74.2% of the time.
Tomahawks’ goaltenders have a combined 3.47 goals against average and .895 save percentage with two shutouts.
Rebels Overview
The Rebels enter this weekend’s games with a 19 – 7 record for 38 points in 26 games. They are in second place in the East Division behind division leading Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by a single point. The Rebels are 3 – 2 during their past five games, and they are coming off of a 5 – 3 home loss against the Titans.
Maguyon leads the Rebels in points with 20 (9 goals and 11 assists). Jensen Zerban (10 goals and 9 assists) and Bellant (7 goals and 12 assists) each have nineteen points. Zerban has scored the most goals on the team with ten and game winning goals with three. Bellant has the most penalty minutes on the team with 70 while Zerban has a team best +/- with a +8.
The Rebels have scored 88 goals in twenty-six games (fifth best in the league) while they have allowed 57 (second least in the league). The Rebels have the league’s best powerplay converting on 32.2% of their chances with the extra attacker while they are ranked second in the league on the penalty kill having prevented the opposition from scoring 86.5% of the time.
Goalies Billing and Keane have a combined 2.16 goals against average and a .910 save percentage with two shutouts (one each).
