The New Jersey Titans fell to the Johnstown Tomahawks by a score of 5-2 on Friday night at the Middletown Sports Complex, throwing their hopes of hosting in the East Division Play-In Round to the brink.
The Titans had an inauspicious start, surrendering three goals in the first period, including a pair scored 1:19 apart, to jump out to a 3-0 at the end of the first. The Tomahawks then extended the lead to 4-0 with another goal halfway through the second period, as Johnstown cruised through the first 40 minutes of play.
With the balance of New Jersey’s second power play to begin the third period, Dominick Rivelli blasted home a one timer for his team leading 28th goal of the season to finally put the Titans on the board. Jack Hillier had the lone assist, while Rivelli moved to one goal behind tying Michael Young’s franchise high mark of 29 in a season. Twelve seconds later, New Jersey struck again when Nikita Meshcheryakov potted his 20th of the year off a Hillier pass to draw within two. Dominick Bartecko had the other assist, as he continues to set new standards in the Titans’ record books.
However, that was all the offense would produce, and a Johnstown goal put the game away for good with 2:33 left in regulation time. With the loss, New Jersey sees their three game winning streak snapped, while the Tomahawks extend their streak to four straight. Perhaps more worryingly, Johnstown has now won their past 3 games against the Titans, and lead the season series with a 5-2-0 record.
The loss also severely hampers New Jersey’s ability to catch either Johnstown or Rochester for home ice advantage in the Play-In Round. The Titans will now need to win their final 4 games of the season, while hoping that either Johnstown or Rochester lose their final 3. Otherwise, New Jersey will find themselves heading to one of those cities for the Best of 3 series.
The Titans will look to right the ship tomorrow, Saturday the 30th, when they face the Tomahawks for the final time in the regular season. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:00pm, and tickets can be purchased by following this link.