Titans Beat Danbury 9-5

Oct 9, 2024

The New Jersey Titans made it two wins in a row with an offensive explosion at the Danbury Ice Arena in Danbury, Connecticut on Tuesday night, defeating the Danbury Jr Hat Tricks by a score of 9-5.  The Titans scored four times in the second and third periods, setting a new season high, while the 9 goals matches Chippewa for the most in the game so far this year.

However, the game did not begin the way the Titans wanted it to in front of new Head Coach and General Manager George Haviland.  The Titans’ President stepped behind the bench for the first time as an NAHL Head Coach, alongside current NA3HL Head Coach Andrey Kapranov, after the dismissal of Craig Doremus, Bobby Dirico, and Kyle Shapiro on Sunday.  With that pall over their heads, New Jersey surrendered the first two goals of the game in the first 7:10 played, and were outshot 6-2 in that span.  With under a minute to play, Ryan Shaw, Ryan Novo, and Jack Hillier combined with tic-tac-toe passing for Hillier to find the back of the net for the second time in as many games, cutting the deficit in half after 20 minutes of play.

New Jersey set a season high with 4 goals in the second period, beginning with Hillier outhustling a Danbury defenseman to beat out an icing call before setting up Novo for his 3rd of the season at the 10:06 mark and giving the Titans a lead they would not relinquish.  Kyle Kim picked up the secondary assist.  Then Ryan Friedman would take over, going bar down twice in a span of 33 seconds to make it 4-2.  JP Saddy recorded his first point in the NAHL on Friedman’s 3rd goal of the season, while James Schneid picked up helpers on both.  Shawn Leary stretched his point streak to 4 games in a row with an assist on Friedman’s 4th of the year.  Schneid then tucked a backhand shot home, assisted by Owen Leahy, for his second of the season and sending the Titans into the second intermission up 5-2.

Danbury would finally stop the bleeding with a goal 91 seconds into the third, but New Jersey answered right back with Nik Doumas’s first in the league under a minute later when the rookie forced a defensive zone turnover.  Jeremy Sprung then got his first in the NAHL less than minute after Doumas’s goal when he launched a shot from the half wall that found the back of the net, keeping Equipment Manager Aiden Zielaznicki busy on the New Jersey bench.  Danbury potted a pair halfway through the period to make it 7-5.  In the final minutes, Titans goaltender Austin McNicholas took a shot at an empty Jr Hat Tricks net.  While McNicholas missed the cage, Jack Hillier again showed some hustle and was the first to the puck for his second of the game, and McNicholas’s first point in the league.  Odie Ford put home a power play goal, assisted by Leahy and Friedman, to add the exclamation mark and give New Jersey the most goals they’ve had in a game since February 24th, a 10-1 victory at home.

With the win, the Titans improve to 3-6-1 on the season.  With 7 points, they jump over Danbury and idle New Hampshire to 7th in the East Division.  They will now look forward to a home and home series against the 6th place Philadelphia Rebels, with New Jersey’s home opener on Saturday, October 12th, at 7:00pm.