Before Saturday night’s home game against the Philadelphia Rebels, Titans head coach Craig Doremus said his team needed to do a better job at holding leads in the third period and finish games. Going into the final period later that night, they turned a 2-0 lead into a 4-0 win against the Philadelphia Rebels.
With a three-game set against the Johnstown Tomahawks on the horizon, the Titans will look to continue that trend of offensive prowess and the ability to defend leads and finish games.
A full 60-minute effort results in a 4-0 win over Philly
Ryan Naumovski notched a goal and two assists while Tate Singleton added two helpers in the win. The Titans snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating the Rebels and now have points in 11 of their last 13 games.
“Being able to tack on to the lead instead of letting (the Rebels) establish any momentum and start a comeback is a big difference for us ultimately, and it’s something we spoke about as a team,” Doremus said after Saturday’s win.
Zach Faremouth opened the scoring with his first goal as a Titan off a turnover from Rebels’ goaltender Eli Billing. Naumovski added a power-play goal in the second period for his 13th of the season.
In the third period, Gavin Gulash and Andrew Husted each scored and further cushioned the Titans’ lead, paving the way to a 4-0 victory
“Everyone bared down and got the puck to areas that we needed to and stuck with it all game,” Naumovski said about the win.
Matt Ladd stopped all 23 shots in the win and picked up his first shutout as a New Jersey Titan.
“It’s a good feeling, Philly is the top team in our division, so to come out and get the win and have the boys block a lot of shots and make it real easy for me, I can’t ask for much more,” Ladd said after earning his ninth win of the season.
Johnstown visits the Garden State for the first time this season
The Johnstown Tomahawks are last in the East Division with a record of 17-28-4. Tonight will be the team’s 50th game of the season, but it’s the first time they are playing at Middletown Sports Complex since they were swept by the Titans in the East Division semi-finals last year.
In the six games played at 1st Summit Arena, each team has a record of 3-3-0 against one another. Johnstown is also coming off a home sweep against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Knights, winning their games 4-1 and 3-2.
Player to watch
Gavin Gulash has nine goals and six assists in 36 games this season. Out of his nine goals, five of them have come against the Tomahawks in Johnston, including a hat trick in a wild 9-6 Titans’ victory back on December 1st.
Puck Drop
Tonight will be the first of a three-game set against the Tomahawks. Puck drop is slated for 7 p.m. at Middletown Sports Complex, and all of the action will be streamed on hockeytv.com.