Springfield Jr. Blues (4-8-2) versus Janesville Jets (7-5-2)
Two Games – Friday, October 26th and Saturday, October 27th
Both games start at 7:05 p.m.
Season Series: (4 Head-to-Head Games in 2012-2013)
Game 1-Friday, October 26th – 7:05 p.m. (Nelson Center)
Game 2-Saturday, October 27th – 7:05 p.m. (Nelson Center)
Game 3-Friday, December 21st – 7:00 p.m. (Janesville)
Game 4-Saturday, December 22 – 7:00 p.m. (Janesville)
Last Weekend Results (both teams)
The Jr. Blues split a two-game road series against the Topeka Roadrunners in Topeka.
Janesville is coming off a two-game series sweep at home against Coulee Region.
Big Story of the Weekend Series inside the Nelson Center
Both teams enter Friday night on a roll as the hometown Jr. Blues have won three of their last four games, while the visiting Jets from Janesville, also have won three of their previous four games. Springfield swept Port Huron in their last two games at home before being shutout in the final game in Topeka last weekend 1-0. The Jets won both games last weekend but lost on the road against Kalamazoo two weekends ago, 1-0.
Team Scope
Springfield Jr. Blues-The Jr. Blues enter the series over the weekend with quite a bit of confidence as they have won three of the teams’ last four contests. Brett Skibba is a large part of the reason, as he currently leads the Jr. Blues in points with 14 and has scored five goals in the last four games—including a hat trick in the 5-3 win over Port Huron on October 12th.
The team is currently in seventh place in the North Division—but own a record of 3-4-1 overall at home and are 3-4-1 in their last 8 games. Their opponents over the last 8 games currently hold a combined record of 41-13-4. Matt Leon, is 3-3-2 in eight starts this season with one shutout. While Ryan Kellenberger, is 1-5-0 in six starts so far. The two have combined to allow 37 goals on 451 shot attempts.
Janesville Jets– Entering this weekend’s games, Janesville has won three straight games. They were able to sweep Coulee Region last weekend at home and earn a split on the road in Kalamazoo the weekend prior.
The Jets are led by an offensive attack that features Jason Ford, Austin Vieth, and Connor Lemirande. Ford leads the team with eight goals and 14 points.
The goalies for the Jets have both been quite impressive as well. Brock Krautz, who is the teams number one option, is 5-3-1 in nine starts while back-up goalie Austin Priebe has started five games and has an overall record of 2-1-1. All four goalies that will be participating in the two game series clash this weekend own a save
Who is Hot (Both teams in last 5 games)
For the Jr. Blues, success has been relying on how well both Nate Chasteen and Brett Skibba have played. Chasteen has tallied six points in his last five games while Skibba has added five himself. Skibba has scored five goals with no assists while Chasteen on the other hand, has six assists and no goals scored. Also hot for the good guys, between the pipes, is starting goalie Matt Leon. Leon is 2-0-0 in his last two starts, including a shutout in Topeka. He has allowed just three goals on 66 shot attempts.
As for Janesville, Connor Lemirande and Ruslan Pedan have both put up four points each. Starting goalie Austin Priebe is 2-1-0 in his last 3 starts and has allowed seven goals with 104 total saves (.937 saves percentage).
Special Teams Comparison (through fourteen games)
Springfield – PP: 18.2 % (9th in NAHL) – PK: 82.5 % (14th in NAHL)
Janesville – PP: 15.8 % (13th in NAHL) – PK: 84.1 % (11th in NAHL)
The official game preview from NAHL.com (click here)
Tyler Cobb is a beat writter for the Jr. Blues
