James Taylor scored his first goal with the Titans and Austin McNicholas stopped 36 of 38 shots as New Jersey defeated Elmira for the third time this season, holding on for a 3-2 victory.
Taylor, playing in his fourth game as a Titan after being acquired from Janesville prior to the trade deadline, opened the scoring halfway through the period with a power move to the front of the net from below the goal line. Ty Creech, in his NAHL debut, picked up the primary assist. Creech joins New Jersey from Langley of the BCHL, where he had 6 points in 30 games this season.
Trailing 1-0 to begin the second period, the Aviators found the back of the net with a power play goal 8:44 into the middle frame to draw level. The teams continued to trade chances until the final minutes of the period, when Jeremy Sprung took a Jayar Luedke pass and snapped a shot high for his 6th goal of the season, and his 2nd in as many games.
Blake Jones extended the lead to 3-1 with a seeing eye shot from the blue line 6:41 into the third period for his 3rd of the year. An Elmira goal 6 minutes later brought them within one, but Austin McNicholas shut the door despite the Aviators playing the final 2+ minutes with an extra attacker to secure his 15th win of the season.
With the victory, the Titans keep pace with the top of the division, and now hold a record of 23-16-6. With 52 points, they are 6 points clear of fifth place Johnstown. If the playoffs started today, Johnstown would travel to New Jersey in a rematch of last year’s East Division Quarterfinals. Elmira and New Jersey will conclude their season series tomorrow, Saturday February 15th, at the Middletown Sports Complex. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00pm, and tickets can be purchased by following this link.