Aston Rebels vs. New Jersey Titans Overview
The Rebels and the New Jersey Titans will play a home-and-home series this weekend with the first game being played at IceWorks. After Saturday night’s away game, the Rebels will return to Middletown’s Ice World on Wednesday evening to close out the regular season between the two teams. The Rebels have a 5 – 4 record against New Jersey, outscoring them 27 – 18 in the nine games. The Rebels have lost two straight games to the Titans (both away games). Aston lost to New Jersey 3 – 2 on February 4 and then 5 – 3 on February 8. In all, the Rebels have a 4 – 1 home record against New Jersey and a 1 – 3 road record.
The Titans top two point leaders against the Rebels this season are Dylan Healey’s six points (3 goals and 3 assists) and Gordie Kaplan’s five points (3 goals and 2 assists). Two players (Anthony Cusanelli and Todd Goehring) have four points respectively against Aston. The Titans possess a 19% power play conversion (7 for 37) against the Rebels while New Jersey’s goalies have a 3.00 goals against average and a .890 save percentage against the Rebels. Brandon Perrone has played in six games between the pipes against the Rebels. He has a 2.33 goals against average and .907 save percentage with no shutouts.
The Rebels have three players with eight points against the Titans: Dom Garcia (3 goals and 5 assists), Gvido Jansons (2 goals and 6 assists) and Aaron Maguyon (1 goal and 7 assists). Brennan Kapcheck has scored the most goals against New Jersey with four. The Rebels have an 18% conversion ratio (7 for 40) on the power play against the Titans. The Rebels netminders have a 2.00 goals against average and .919 save percentage against New Jersey with three shutouts. Mareks Mitens has appeared in six games against the Titans and he has allowed eight goals and has a .919 save percentage and three shutouts.
New Jersey Titans Overview
The Titans are currently in third place in the East Division with a 33-19-1-2 record for 69 points. They are nine points behind second place Johnstown with five games remaining in the season. New Jersey is coming off of a 5 – 4 loss against the Tomahawks. They have won six out of their last ten games. The Titans have scored 213 goals (most in the NAHL) and have allowed 169 (fourteenth in the league) through 55 games.
The Titans are led by Kaplan’s 54 points (23 goals and 31 assists), Danny Eruzione’s 53 points (17 goals and 36 assists) and Gordie Helmuth’s 46 points (18 goals and 28 assists). Kaplan leads the team in goals with 23. Ryan Wheeler leads the Titans defensemen with 33 points (7 goals and 26 assists). Helmuth leads the team with five game winning goals.
New Jersey is ranked seventh in the league on the power play with a 20.2% conversion ratio while they are ranked eighth in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 83.5% of the time. Helmuth leads the team with 144 penalty minutes. Kaplan also has the team’s best +/- ratio of +19.
The goaltending this season has a 2.98 goals against average and a .903 save percentage with three shutouts.
Aston Rebels Overview
The Rebels clinched their second straight regular season East Division championship last weekend. They have the league’s best record of 43-9-2-1 for 89 points, and they are coming off of a 9 – 1 win over the Northeast Generals. The Rebels have won eight out of their last ten games. They have scored 202 goals (third best in the league) and have allowed only 97 goals (least amount in the NAHL) through 55 games.
The Rebels are led by Andrew Bellant’s 53 points (26 goals and 27 assists). He is followed by Garcia’s 47 points (14 goals and 33 assists) and Jansons’ 46 points (19 goals and 27 assists). Bellant also leads the team in goals with 26 and game winning goals with six. Jansons also leads the team’s defensemen with 46 points.
The Rebels are ranked fourth in the league on the power play with a 22.2% conversion ratio while they are ranked second in the league on the penalty kill preventing the opposition from scoring 85.9% of the time. Bellant leads the team with 154 penalty minutes. Kapcheck and Ryan Solomon each have a +37 +/- ratio which leads the team.
The goaltending tandem of Mitens (1.51 GAA and .931 SV%) and Leavy (1.93 GAA and .915 SV%) has a combined 1.72 goals against average and a .923 save percentage with sixteen shutouts.
Fan Appreciation Night
The Rebels will be having their second annual Fan Appreciation Night on Friday. All tickets are $5. Each fan will receive a free bag of Herr’s snack foods and a FREE 2016-17 Rebels trading card series. Prior to the game the Rebels will be honoring their billet families and then presenting year-end player awards. The ceremonies will begin at 6:45pm. There will be a meet and greet following the game.
