The Johnstown Tomahawks will be back on the road after back to back home stands as they are set for a weekend battle with the East Division leading Maryland Black Bears. The mountain will be steep but the stage will be set for the Tomahawks to enter the home stretch of their season with massive amounts of confidence following a successful weekend versus Maryland.
A LOOK BACK AT LAST SEASON
Maryland has been in the NAHL for about half of the time that the Tomahawks have been, currently playing in their 8th season. The Black Bears have also been one of the most successful teams during this time as they’ve achieved a winning record in all but two seasons, with those being the inaugural and the second season. Through their first seven full seasons plus their 42 games played this season, Maryland has a strong all time record of 242-153-55. Maryland currently holds a league best, 33-5-4 record and are 7-2-1 over their last 10 games.
Last year the Tomahawks and Black Bears faced off eight times, which is actually the only matchup annually on the Hawks’ in-division schedule that shows up eight times, while the others show up just six times. The Tomahawks ended up winning the season series five games to three, capturing crucial points in the East Division standings. Unlike their rivalry with Rochester, the two teams did not end up meeting in the playoffs, as they were both bounced in their round 1 matchups. All eight games played out in relatively tight fashion with five of the eight finishing with wins by two goals or less. The biggest loss from either side came from a four-goal win for Maryland in Johnstown. The Tomahawks got the last laugh, winning the final game by a score of 3-2 at home.
NOV 15TH – 5-3 W IN JOHNSTOWN
NOV 16TH – 4-3 W IN JOHNSTOWN
NOV 29TH – 1-4 L AT MARYLAND
NOV 30TH – 4-1 W AT MARYLAND
FEB 7TH – 5-3 W AT MARYLAND
FEB 8TH – 2-3 L AT MARYLAND
APR 4TH – 1-5 L IN JOHNSTOWN
APR 5TH – 3-2 W IN JOHNSTOWN
TOMAHAWKS WIN SERIES FIVE GAMES TO THREE
2025-2026 SEASON SERIES SO FAR
OCT 17 – 5-1 L IN JOHNSTOWN (1-0 MYD)
OCT 18 – 6-3 L IN JOHNSTOWN (2-0 MYD)
OCT 24 – 4-1 L AT MARYLAND (3-0 MYD)
OCT 25 – 5-2 L AT MARYLAND (4-0 MYD)
FEB 6 – AT MARYLAND TBD
FEB 7 – AT MARYLAND TBD
MAR 13 – IN JOHNSTOWN TBD
MAR 14 – IN JOHNSTOWN TBD
2025-2026 KEYS TO THE MATCHUP
- Tomahawks come into the weekend remaining to struggle to find consistency, winning just 6 of their last 16 games over the last two plus months.
- They have been consistent however, by remaining at the #6 spot in the East for going on three straight months now.
- Maryland comes in as the #1 team in the NAHL, as they clearly have figured out the recipe for success, only losing 5 games in regulation through 42 games played thus far.
- The Black Bears have dominated the Hawks to say the least through half of the season series thus far, winning all four games and hold a substantial 20-6 advantage in goal differential (+76 overall on the season).
- The Tomahawks currently have the third-worst goal differential in the East with a -18 (116/134).
- Maryland is led by the NAHL’s leading scorer in terms of points/game, Harrison Smith
- Smith sits at 2nd in points, recording 20G, 48A for 68P in just 35GP good for an astounding 1.94 points/game.
- Johnstown is still led by their only two point/game scorers in Nick Jarmain (24G, 18A), and Emerson Marshall (16G, 24A)..
- Maryland has a bit more in terms of depth scoring, with seven players above the 30 point threshold (Jarmain + Marshall only above 30 for Hawks)
GOALIE MATCHUP
JTN
- Ferris: 8-11-4-2 | 2.96GAA | .905 SV%
- Oleksiienko: 7-3-0-0 | 3.12GAA | .914 SV%
MYD
- Denes: 20-2-2-1 | 2.02GAA | .914 SV%
- Gatto: 11-3-2-0 | 2.36GAA | .892 SV%
BY: DREW P. PFEIL