By Emily Polglaze (@enpolglaze) | March 10, 2018
They say that records were made to be broken, and Jakov Novak did it in record time.
The alternate captain went into Friday’s game against Kenai with 60 points in his 45 games. He needed just two more points to break the franchise record for points in a season, and he did it before the game was 40 minutes gone.
His 62nd point came with an assist on Brendan MacLaren’s second period goal. He also got the Jets on the board in the first, and capped off the game with their last goal in the third to seal a 6-2 victory and for three points total.
The previous single-season points record was held by Zach LaValle. LaValle set the record in the 2014-15 season and is now playing NCAA hockey at Miami University in Ohio.
Novak is having a standout second season in Janesville. The Ontario native played in 52 regular season games with the Jets last year, and accumulated 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points.
This season, it took him only 23 games to match that mark.
Novak is scoring at a well-over point per game clip, and he’s had seven three-point evenings to date. In only 10 of 47 games he hasn’t tallied a point.
The winger’s hunger and tenacity have a way of rubbing off on the team. In his 19 multi-point games this season, the Jets have lost just one.
Novak leads the league in scoring with 63 points, eight ahead of the second place skater. His 29 goals, five game-winners, and plus-38 rating all tie for first in the league, and his 34 assists come in second.
Consistency has been a major key to Novak’s success. He still holds the longest point streak for any player in the league this season, with 23 points in 12 games played between November 25 and January 20. In that time, the Jets went 9-2-1.
The Bentley University commit recently attended the NAHL Top Prospects tournament and tallied three goals and one assist in two games for the NAHL Select White team.
The Jets have already punched their ticket to the Robertson Cup playoffs, and with 11 games left in the regular season, Novak’s impact will undoubtedly help Janesville go the distance.