Weekend Preview
Johnstown at Janesville
Friday, January 23rd & Saturday, January 24th 8 p.m. EST
The Tomahawks travel to Janesville, Wisc. for a pair of games against the first-place Janesville Jets. This weekend’s games are the final two between the teams this season. The Tomahawks and Jets split their two meetings in Johnstown in November, with Johnstown winning the first game 2-1, and Janesville taking the second game 3-2. The Tomahawks were 14 seconds away from earning at least one more point in the series, but a late Janesville goal gave them a regulation win.
Janesville leads Soo and Keystone by 20 points for first place in the North Division. Johnstown is currently tied with Springfield for fourth place in the division, two points ahead of Michigan and five points behind Soo and Keystone. Following this weekends games, the Tomahawks travel to Springfield, while Janesville travels to Soo.
The Tomahawks
Johnstown enters this weekend, looking to snap a 5-game losing streak. The Tomahawks earned one point in two games against Keystone last weekend, falling 3-2 in a shootout on Friday night at the War Memorial and 3-1 in Connellsville on Saturday night. Prior to this streak, the Tomahawks had won four of their last six games, including a sweep against Kenai River.
The Tomahawks have seen in increase in scoring over the last ten games, with the line of Casey Linkenheld, Joe Drabin and Trevor Recktenwald leading the way. The three have combined for 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in the last ten games.
The Tomahawks will continue the road trip with three games in Springfield next weekend and two in Michigan the following weekend. After those five games, 11 of the final 17 regular season games will be played at the Cambria County War Memorial.
The Jets
The Jets are on a streak of their own, winners of four straight and nine of their last ten. The streak has given Janesville a substantial lead in the North Division race.
Janesville has five players with 30 or more points, including Zach Lavalle (46 points) and Evan Feno (41 points) who are among the league’s top ten scorers. Between the pipes, Matt Jurusik is tied for second in the league with 18 wins and is fourth with a 1.96 goals against average.
Following this weekend, nine of the Jets next ten games will be played on the road, with the lone home game coming against in-state rival Coulee Region on Feb. 6.