In front of their biggest crowd so far this season, the New Jersey Titans could not rekindle last night’s magic and fell to the Maine Nordiques by a score of 2-1 on Saturday night at the Middletown Sports Complex.
For the second night in a row, the Titans would find themselves playing from behind in the first period, after the Nordiques scored on their 4th shot on goal in the game at the 10:45 mark of the opening frame. For the first time this weekend, Maine outshot New Jersey in a period, putting 12 on Titans’ goaltender Dylan Krick while New Jersey generated 10 shots themselves.
A tightly contested second period would see solid defensive play in both zones and both offenses found themselves stymied to generate dangerous chances. A Matej Teply holding penalty gave Maine the chance to double their lead, but Dominick Rivelli intercepted a pass at the Titans’ blue line and raced off on with Dominik Bartecko. Rivelli fed Bartecko for a one time shot, but Bartecko instead passed back to the suddenly open Rivelli, who buried his 14th goal of the season and drew the Titans level going into the second intermission.
New Jersey, however, could not complete the comeback, conceding a power play goal themselves halfway through the third period. Despite pulling Krick in favor of the extra attacker, the offense could not get one more, leading to the weekend split.
With the loss, the Titans remain in 6th place in the division with a record of 19-15-2. The schedule doesn’t get any easier, with a date on the road against another top opponent in the Maryland Black Bears on Friday, January 26th and Saturday, January 27th. Both games are scheduled for 7:30pm from the Piney Orchard Ice Arena in Odenton, Maryland.