By Mason Lyttle
JANESVILLE JETS at AUSTIN BRUINS — Riverside Arena
Fri 10/6 | 7:05pm | Austin, MN
LIVE STREAM: HockeyTV | TWITTER: @JanesvilleJets1
LAST WEEKEND: The Jets opened their home slate with a sweep of the Minnesota Magicians, following up Friday night’s thrilling three-goal comeback with a 4-2 victory on Saturday in which they led for nearly 50 minutes. The divisional sweep earned Janesville four big points to stay ahead of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for first place in the Midwest Division.
TONIGHT: One high, one low. Janesville brings a 6-1-0-0 record to southern Minnesota, where the Bruins are searching for their first win of the season.
In their home opener last Saturday, the Austin Bruins twice gained leads over the Minnesota Wilderness, and twice allowed tying goals before surrendering a pair to Gino Lucia in the third period, dropping the contest, 4-2. The loss kept the Bruins winless through three games on the season. Austin’s lone standings point comes from a shootout loss to Springfield at the NAHL Showcase, in which Justin Brandt scored the tying goal with nine seconds to play in regulation.
JETS/BRUINS SERIES NOTES
At just over four hours away, the Bruins are the Jets’ closest out-of-division opponent … Tonight’s meeting is the 11th all-time between the clubs, and the first of four this season … Janesville leads the all-time series 7-2-0-1 … the Jets last visited Austin on Jan. 28, 2017, losing 5-1 and ending an 8-game win streak … Three of the last seven games between the two teams have been decided in the shootout … Kip Hoffmann leads all returning Jets with two goals in four games from last year’s season series … Jakov Novak and Alec Semandel each scored one goal and one assist last year versus the Bruins … Lane Krenzen leads the Bruins on their current roster in scoring from last season’s series with three assists.
SEASON SERIES (Jets 0-0-0-0)
| Oct. 6 | at Austin | 7:05pm |
| Oct. 7 | at Austin | 7:05pm |
| Mar. 30 | Austin | 7:00pm |
| Mar. 31 | Austin | 7:00pm |
3 JETS BITS
- NEW COACH, SAME JETS: Great goaltending, solid special teams, goals a plenty, and a 6-1-0-0 record through seven games. Sound familiar? Coach Gary Shuchuk’s Jets have not missed a beat in the transition from Joe Dibble, and have shown very similar, winning results.
- SPOTLIGHT ON THE STOPPER: Jets goaltender Daniel Lebedeff was recognized Tuesday on the NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary ‘Prospects to Watch’ list, marking the fifth straight season in which a Jets goaltender has placed on the list.
- SHOOTING GALLERY: More shots → more goals → more wins. That’s conventional thinking for most, and practice in Janesville. Saturday’s win was the first game of the Shuchuk era that saw the Jets outshot by their opponent, when the Magicians eked out 39 against the Jets’ 38. Janesville is averaging 39.6 shots on opposing goaltenders, and keeping their own netminders to 29 pucks per game.
MILESTONE ALERT
- Kip Hoffmann is 2 assists away from 50 in his NAHL career
- Kip Hoffmann is 3 games away from 150 in his NAHL career
- TJ Polglaze is 7 games away from 50 in his NAHL career
CLIMBING THE LADDER
Current Jets, ranking among the franchise all-time leaders:
GAMES PLAYED (regular season)
| RANK | Player | Pos | GP |
| 1 | Cullen Munson | F | 175 |
| 2 | Adam Winborg | F | 170 |
| T-3 | Kip Hoffmann | F | 147 |
| T-3 | Adam Roeder | D | 147 |
| 5 | Bryan Kronberger | D | 137 |
| 6 | Jeff Alderfer | D | 120 |
| 7 | Jordan Himley | F | 120 |
| 8 | Alex Smith | D | 118 |
| 9 | Lordanthony Grissom | D | 115 |
| T-10 | Ross Mauermann | F | 113 |
| T-10 | Connor McBride | F | 113 |
GOALS (regular season)
| RANK | Player | Pos | G |
| 1 | Adam Winborg | F | 62 |
| 2 | Connor McBride | F | 48 |
| 3 | Cullen Munson | F | 43 |
| 4 | Jordan Himley | F | 40 |
| 5 | Ross Mauermann | F | 39 |
| 6 | Cole Paskus | F | 35 |
| 7 | Drew Callin | F | 34 |
| 8 | Jordan Bancroft | F | 32 |
| 9 | Kip Hoffmann | F | 31 |
| T-10 | Brandon Schultz | F | 30 |
| T-10 | Pijus Rulevicius | F | 30 |
POINTS (regular season)
| RANK | Player | Pos | Pts |
| 1 | Adam Winborg | F | 145 |
| 2 | Cullen Munson | F | 113 |
| 3 | Ross Mauermann | F | 99 |
| 4 | Connor McBride | F | 92 |
| 5 | Kip Hoffmann | F | 79 |
| 6 | Jordan Himley | F | 77 |
| 7 | Cole Paskus | F | 74 |
| 8 | Evan Feno | F | 73 |
| T-9 | Jordan Bancroft | F | 72 |
| T-9 | Alex Smith | D | 72 |
AUSTIN BRUINS
OVERVIEW:
Record: 0-2-0-1 (6th, Central)
Home Record: 0-1-0-0
Goals For/Goals Against: 5GF/9GA
Power Play: 21.4% (9th in the NAHL)
Penalty Kill: 88.2% (3rd in the NAHL)
Top Scorers: Travis Kothenbeutel (3GP—1G-2A—3PTS); Lane Krenzen (3GP—1G-2A—3PTS); Devon Fields (5GP—1G-1A—2PTS)
WHO’S UP FRONT:
Travis Kothenbeutel: The ’97 forward is one of two committed Bruins. Kothenbeutel, an Omaha recruit, scored last Saturday in the loss to the Wilderness and picked up two assists versus Springfield at the Showcase. The Sauk Rapids native scored 57 points in 58 games last season, his second full campaign in the NAHL.
Reggie Millette: A coach’s advice for tough, two-way forwards is often to find the proverbial line between “hard to play against” and cutting a rut to the penalty box. Millette is that line. The ’00 Compuware product racked up 82 penalty minutes in just 18 games last season, and has 20 to his name in three NAHL contests so far. Millette is an impact player who can sway a game in either direction.
WHO’S ON D:
Devon Fields: Fields, the latest acquisition from coach Steve Howard’s Bruins, came to Austin Tuesday via trade from Topeka. The ’99 defenseman played 47 games for the RoadRunners last season and brings physicality to the Bruins’ blue line.
WHO’S IN GOAL:
Alex Schilling: The Wayzata netminder played 29 games for the Bruins last season, registering a .894 save percentage across a 9-13-2-2 record. Schilling will likely make his third start of the season either tonight or tomorrow. In the Bruins’ regular season opener, a 1-0 loss to a revamped Northeast squad at the Showcase, Schilling battled the Generals’ David Fessenden and nearly stole a win, stopping 26 of 27 pucks.
JANESVILLE JETS
OVERVIEW:
Record: 6-1-0-0 (1st, Midwest)
Road Record: 0-1-0-0
Goals For/Goals Against: 21GF/13GA
Power Play: 30.8% (3rd in the NAHL)
Penalty Kill: 84.8% (8th in the NAHL)
Top Scorers: Kip Hoffmann (7GP—1G-9A—10PTS); Jakov Novak (7GP—4G-4A—8PTS); Brenden MacLaren (5GP—4G-2A—6PTS)
WHO’S UP FRONT:
Blake Ripley: The Waunakee native had a weekend to remember. He scored his first as a Jet in Friday’s second period to complete the three-goal comeback, and ended a long shootout with a goal in the eighth frame. Ripley followed up Friday’s heroics with Saturday’s opening goal, less than five minutes into the game. Ripley’s efforts earned him Bauer Midwest Division Star of the Week.
Erik Palmqvist: “Big Erik” also picked up two goals in the weekend sweep, redirecting an Alec Semandel shot on Friday and scoring Saturday’s eventual game-winner on a breakaway. The towering winger has every component of his game on full display.
WHO’S ON D:
Carter Ekberg: Last spring, Ekberg ended the Jets’ longest game in franchise history, scoring the double overtime game-winner over the Coulee Region Chill in the first round of the playoffs. Last weekend, Ekberg dusted off the Superman cape, scoring the game-tying goal with less than two minutes to play. The ’97 defenseman is rounding out his game early in his fourth NAHL season and has five points in seven games.
WHO’S IN GOAL:
Daniel Lebedeff: Coach Gary Shuchuk has shown confidence in both goaltenders, and a desire to split starts, at least early. Through seven games, neither goaltender has been given back-to-back starts, and if that trend continues, it will be Lebedeff tonight against the Bruins. Lebedeff backstopped the Jets’ comeback win on Friday, settling down after a tough first period. He sewed together 48 solid minutes from the Magicians’ third goal to the end of overtime, stopping 22 of 23 shots in that effort, and followed up by stoning five consecutive Magicians shooters at the end of the shootout.
JANESVILLE JETS at AUSTIN BRUINS — Riverside Arena
Fri 10/6 | 7:05pm | Austin, MN
LIVE STREAM: HockeyTV | TWITTER: @JanesvilleJets1