The Jamestown Rebels and Johnstown Tomahawks, who played 12 times during the regular season, will meet in a best-of-five first-round Robertson Cup playoff series beginning tonight in Johnstown. P-J file photo by Scott Reagle

The Jamestown Rebels are one of the hottest teams in the North American Hockey League.

A 10-game winning streak late in the season secured Jamestown a spot in the Robertson Cup playoffs and the Rebels will meet a familiar opponent, the Johnstown Tomahawks, when the best-of-five first round gets underway tonight.

Jamestown’s loss to Maryland last Friday and Johnstown’s win over Danbury the following day gave the Tomahawks the No. 2 seed and the Rebels the No. 3 seed in the East Division, meaning the series will begin at 7:30 tonight at 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial and continue Saturday at 7 p.m. in the same location.

“Ten straight was pretty awesome. That doesn’t happen every day in any given year,” Jamestown head coach Joe Coombs said Tuesday evening. “We clinched the playoff spot Thursday and we needed the game for second place Friday. I felt like our effort was just satisfactory. … It was almost like the players felt they did enough. … At the end of the day, we lost. We reload and get back on it.”

Game 3 will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 28 at Northwest Arena with an if-necessary Game 4 at 7 the following night. If the series goes five games, the deciding matchup will be Sunday, April 30 in Johnstown.

“They have a few lines with some really high-caliber skill. They like to reverse the puck a lot,” Jamestown forward Ethan Janda, a midseason acquisition, said following Wednesday’s practice. “I think we’re just a team that can grind them down. I think any team that we play we’re just going to do our thing and ultimately grind them down, and finish the game hard.”

The Tomahawks feature the NAHL’s top goal scorer in Jake Black, who finished with 41 goals and added 38 assists for a league second-best 79 points. Johnstown’s Jacob Badal finished 14th in the league in scoring with 21 goals and 41 assists good for 62 points.

“(Black) plays with a really good linemate, Badal, and he does a great job of finding him. (Black) is a player that thrives when you give him time and space,” Rebels captain John Lundy said following Wednesday’s practice. “Just getting in layers and getting on bodies in the ‘D’ zone quickly will help us out defending him because he’s a skilled player, but he needs a lot of time and space to do his thing.”

The Rebels feature some firepower of their own in Lundy, who set a franchise record for goals in a season with 32, good for sixth in the NAHL. The Brooklyn native added 25 assists for 57 points.

“The playoffs are a different venture altogether. We have a whole lot of guys who don’t have a ton of experience in the playoffs,” Coombs said. “The whole goal was to make the playoffs. The way we’ve played was very good, but I’d like to do some damage.”

Jamestown appears to have the upper hand in goal where Nolan Suggs has taken control of the Rebels’ crease. The White Lake, Michigan native, who finished 25-10-1-1 on the season, ranks second in the NAHL in save percentage (.928) and fourth in goals against average (2.25).

“Suggsy has played great,” Coombs said. “He wants the net and he’s earned it.”

Matthew O’Donnell seemed to take over Johnstown’s net down the stretch when he played five of the Tomahawks’ final six games. The Waterbury, Connecticut native, who began the season with the Wichita Falls Warriors, finished 19-9-5-1 with a .901 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average.

“I always preach a 200-foot game, that’s not going to change,” Coombs said. “Down the stretch … I think we had some scoring from depth guys we weren’t getting a lot of scoring from for two-thirds of the year.”

Johnstown was one of two East Division opponents Jamestown met 12 times this season with the fifth-place Maryland Black Bears being the other. Jamestown finished with eight wins in their 12 games, outscoring the Tomahawks 35-33.

“They are a really good team. They have a lot of skill up front and they have size on the back end,” Lundy said of the Tomahawks. “One thing we have been focusing on this week is just being strong in our ‘D’ zone and pick up guys on our backcheck.

“They like to play a lot off the rush and they find a lot of success off the rush,” Lundy added. “If we really dial in on our backchecking, I think that will negate a big part of their game.”

The Rebels are without several key players who were part of the lineup during different parts of the season. Forwards Carter Casper and Marcus Kivela Carlzon suffered season-ending injuries weeks ago and now Jamestown may be without defensemen Owen West and Joseph Calvarino for the remainder of the year.

“We had some injuries that gave some other kids more opportunities. … We started getting more from certain people,” Coombs said of his forward group, adding about the defensemen, “We have a couple of pretty big injuries back there. … A couple of injuries that impact your depth … but we still have six healthy guys who are very capable.”

Jamestown won the final three matchups of the season, the final two part of the 10-game winning streak that cemented its spot in the postseason. But the past doesn’t matter tonight in Johnstown.

“Playoff hockey is a different animal. We’ve been playing playoff-style hockey for the last month or so, but once that puck drops it’s probably going to go to another level,” Lundy said. “We are excited for the challenge. … If we just focus on our game and what we have to do, and not get caught up in the excitement or hype around it, we’ll be fine.”