Knights visit IceWorks on 92.5WXTU Country Night
The Rebels will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights on Friday in the team’s only game of the weekend. This will be the eighth meeting between the two teams with the Rebels having a 6 – 1 record. The last time they played was back on November 4 and 5 with the Rebels shutting out the Knights both games (2 – 0 and 7 – 0). The Rebels are 3 – 0 at home against WBS and they are 3 – 1 on the road.
During the seven games between the two teams, Khristian Acosta leads the Knights with four points (3 goals and one assist). Acosta also has scored the most goals for the visitors with four. The Knights are one for seventeen on the power play. The goaltending tandem of Colton Hanks and Grant Valentine has a combined 4.4 goals against average and a .843 save percentage.
The Rebels have been lead by Drew Blackmun’s nine points (4 goals and 5 assists). He is followed by Gianluca Esteves’ eight points (5 goals and 3 assists). Dom Garcia and Evgeny Yakolvev each have seven points. The Rebels are four for twenty on the power play. Jack Leavy and Mareks Mitens have a combined 1.85 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. Mitens had two shutouts.
Friday night’s game will be country night which will be sponsored by radio station 92.5 WXTU
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights Overview
The Knights are currently in fourth place in the East Division with a 12-13-0-1 record for 25 points. WBS is coming off of a 6 – 2 win over the Northeast Generals. The Knights have won six out of their last ten games. The Knights have scored 80 goals through 26 games and have allowed 88.
The Knights are led by Khristia Acosta’s 18 points (6 goals and 12 assists). He is accompanied by Mike Gelatt’s 17 points (6 goals and 11 assists) and Curtis Carlson’s 15 points (4 goals and 11 assists). Acosta and Gelatt are tied for the most goals on the team with six. Dorian Dawson leads the Knights defensemen with 11 points (5 goals and 6 assists). Sam Antonitsch leads the team with two game winning goals.
WBS is last in the league on the league on the power play with a 10.5% conversion ratio while they are ranked tenth in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 81.8% of the time. Elijah Latimer leads the team with 54 penalty minutes. Dawson has the team’s best +/- ratio of +10.
Goaltenders Grant Valentine and Colt Hanks have a combined 3.20 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. Each goalie has a shutout.
Aston Rebels Overview
The Rebels lead the East Division with a record of 21-4-1 for 43 points, which is the best record in the North American Hockey League. The Rebels are coming off of a 3 – 1 loss against the New Jersey Titans. The Rebels have won seven of their last ten games.
The Rebels have scored 100 goals through 26 games. They currently have scored the third most goals in the league. The Rebels have allowed only 44 goals which is the least amount of goals allowed in the NAHL.
The Rebels are led by Dom Garcia’s 26 points (8 goals and 18 assists) and Andrew Bellant’s (14 goals and 11 assists) and Gianluca Esteves’ (9 goals and 26 assists) 25 points each. Bellant leads the team in goals with 14. Garcia and Bellant are ranked 18th and 19th respectively in the league with most points. Brennan Kapcheck is second in the league with total points and goals for all defensemen with 23 (10 goals and 13 assists). Garcia and Kapcheck lead the team with three game winning goals respectively.
The Rebels are ranked seventh in the league on the power play with a 25.3% conversion ratio while they are ranked first in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 86% of the time. Bellant leads the team with 70 penalty minutes. Defenseman Ryan Solomon leads the team with a +23 +/- ratio, which is tied for best in the league, while Kapcheck is second in the league with +21.
Mareks Mitens leads the league in all goaltending statistics. He has won the most games (16), played the most minutes (1,090), has the most shutouts (7), has the best goals against average (1.27%) and save percentage (.947). The tandem of Mitens and Jack Leavy has a 1.58 goals against average and a .935 save percentage with eight shutouts.
