JOHNSTOWN —
After welcoming more than 5,100 fans to Cambria Country War Memorial Arena last weekend, the Johnstown Tomahawks host division rival Janesville for a pair of NAHL games starting with tonight’s 7 p.m. faceoff.
The Tomahawks will hold a silent auction for special jerseys worn in honor of Guns & Hoses Night. The festivities surrounding the contest will honor area fire and police departments. Proceeds from the auction will benefit Special Olympics Pennsylvania – Cambria County.
Johnstown and Janesville will square off again at 6 p.m. Sunday.
The Tomahawks (2-3-3) are coming off their first ever home victory – a 4-2 triumph over Michigan – and have maintained a stretch of keeping teams off the board in the first period.
Johnstown has blanked its opposition in six of eight first periods this season.
Johnstown has also scored first in seven games this season.
But the Tomahawks have also had issues holding on to those early leads through the first month.
Cody Gylling and Kristaps Bazevics lead the Tomahawks in scoring with five points apiece with Brandon Brossoit, Jeff Bergh and Jordan Watt following with six points apiece.
Johnstown, which leads the North Division with 217 penalty minutes, already has three players with 20 or more PIMs. Forward Codey Hansen leads the charge with 25.
Despite the penalty-box occupancy, Johnstown has crafted one of the stingiest penalty kills in the NAHL, warding off 34 of 40 power-play opportunities so far.
The Jets (4-2-2) split a pair of shootout decisions with Kenai River this past weekend, taking the first 3-2, while falling 4-3 in the second.
Austin Vieth leads a trio of Jets forwards with at least seven points.
Vieth has tallied 10 points (five goals, five assists), while Matt Salituro (two goals) and Jason Ford (four goals) follow with nine and seven points, respectively.
Goaltender Brock Kautz carries a (4-1-1) record with a 1.95 GAA in six starts.
Notes: Forward Cobi Smith-Mass dislocated his shoulder Sunday during a fight with Michigan’s A.J. Marcinek … Defenseman Kristaps and forward Jaycob McCombs have finished serving their two-game suspensions stemming from a Sept. 15 scrum against Corpus Christi … Janesville and Johnstown worked a trade earlier in the week with the Tomahawks acquiring goaltender Collin Brennan in exchange for a draft pick. Brennan allowed five goals in a 5-3 loss to Texas during the NAHL Showcase in Blaine, Minn. … The teams will only play twice more following this weekend when the Tomahawks travel to Janesville in mid-February.
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