GENERALS (2-34-3) at TOMAHAWKS (25-8-2)
Location: Cambria County War Memorial | Johnstown, Pennsylvania
Game Time: Tonight (7:00 p.m.), Friday (7:30 p.m.), Saturday (7:00 p.m.)
Doors: One hour prior to faceoff
The North American Hockey League turns the page to February as the push for playoff positioning is on for all teams including the Johnstown Tomahawks.
The ‘Hawks are coming off a two-game series with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights in which the team earned three out of a possible four points.
Johnstown meets a struggling Northeast Generals team that arrives at the Cambria County War Memorial after a two-week trip to the Last Frontier of Alaska. The Generals captured two out of 10 points against the NAHL’s two Alaska franchises in Fairbanks and Kenai River.
The Tomahawks are a perfect 4-0-0 against the Generals this season. Johnstown hosted the previous meetings on December 3-4.
On December 3, the Tomahawks defeated the Generals 4-2 with goals from Tommy Horn, Filips Buncis, Brandon Young and Dalton Hunter.
The next night, the Tomahawks’ offense exploded for seven points including a hat trick from Hunter as Johnstown soundly defeated Northeast 7-2.
In the four games played against the Generals, Johnstown has scored a total of 21 goals. Northeast is last in the NAHL with 183 goals against.
This will be the final meeting at the War Memorial for between Northeast and Johnstown. The Tomahawks will visit Attleboro, Mass., March 30-31 and April 1 for a three game series at the New England Sports Village.
THE JOHNSTOWN TOMAHAWKS
It was a highly entertaining weekend of hockey at the War Memorial last week as the Tomahawks continued to impress at home by taking three out of four points from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights.
Friday night, both teams played high octane hockey as the Tomahawks trailed three times but found a way to win the game 7-5.
It wasn’t a pretty game but the Tomahawks managed to score opportune goals to give themselves a chance to win during the contest. Nick Bruce collected two goals (one short-handed) while Josh Biasillo, Dalton hunter, Hayden Rowan, Andrew Quetell and Logan Stork chipped in a goal each.
The Knights slipped past the Tomahawks Saturday night after rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the third period to win the game 3-2 in overtime. For Johnstown, Bruce and Horn scored the two Tomahawks goals as the team managed to secure a point.
Player to Watch
Nick Bruce has been on a tear with his linemates Tommy Horn and Logan Stork. The Fall River, Nova Scotia native is on a five-game point streak with 10 points (six goals, four assists). Expect Bruce to log a ton of valuable minutes as his productivity continues to rise.
NORTHEAST GENERALS
The Generals picked up their second victory of the season last weekend in a 4-3 win over the Kenai River Brown Bears to move their record to 2-32-3.
With two wins in the last 10 games, the Generals are looking to affect the East Division standings for the Tomahawks as the ‘Hawks are within eight points of the first-place Aston Rebels.
The Generals return to the lower 48 after taking just two points out of 10 possible in Alaska. Their journey there saw the Fairbanks Ice Dogs complete a three-game sweep while the Brown Bears mustered a split against the Generals.
Player to Watch
Colin Bilek
Leading the way for the Generals in scoring is Bilek who, despite a minus-26 mark, has scored 11 goals and 15 assists. Bilek will play power play and penalty killing minutes for the Generals as they start to string together 60-minute hockey games.