The New Jersey Titans are coming off two losses to the Northeast Generals and will hit the road this weekend for a three-game set against the Johnstown Tomahawks.
Friday night will mark the first time the Titans (7-4-1-1) will face the Tomahawks (3-14-1-0) since the East Division semifinals in the 2017 Robertson Cup Playoffs, where New Jersey swept Johnstown for its first playoff series win in franchise history.
Last weekend, the Titans lost both games against the Generals in Attleboro, Mass., dropping the first one on Friday 5-2, followed by a 4-3 shootout loss on Saturday.
Despite the losses, several players have continued to play well for the Titans. Both Sacred Heart commits, Todd Goehring and Nick Boyagian, are riding point streaks. Goehring has a goal and two assists in his first three games back with the Titans while Boyagian has six points (4g, 2a) in his last five games.
Other notable performances include Chris Garbe, who notched two assists last weekend vs. Northeast, while Hunter Alden has two goals and seven assists in his last seven games.
Another thing the Titans did improve on from last weekend is their discipline. After being assessed with 28 minor penalties in a three-game home stand, New Jersey only committed four minor penalties in the two games against the Generals.
One interesting stat about the Titans; they are currently 7-2-0 when any of the defensemen record at least a point, whereas the team is 0-2-1-1 when the blue-liners are kept off the scoresheet. No defensemen recorded any points against the Generals, so the team could look to their back end for a bounce-back weekend against Johnstown.
Head coach Craig Doremus said the team should not take the Tomahawks’ record for granted, and is expecting a hard-fought series this weekend.
“Last weekend was disappointing but nevertheless, we worked on some things this week in practice and look forward to a big three-game series,” Doremus said. “Obviously Johnstown is a tough place to play in, and it will be a great test and experience for our younger players.”
The first game is Friday night with a 7:30 puck drop. Be sure to catch all of the action on hockeytv.com.