After winning two out of three games against the Johnstown Tomahawks, the New Jersey Titans will head down to Philadelphia for a three-game set against the Rebels.
The Titans took the first game 6-3 last weekend over Johnstown, then split the final two games with a 4-3 loss and a 2-1 victory. Head coach Craig Doremus said he would have preferred the sweep, but will take the four points nonetheless.
“Six points for us was the expectation. Not a great weekend, but certainly not a bad weekend either. Any time you can take four on the road in this league, you have to be happy with the results,” he said.
One player that has been red hot for New Jersey is Nick Boyagian. The East Greenbush, NY native has nine points in his last eight games, and picked up two goals and an assist in the three games against Johnstown.
“His ability to find the back of the net on a consistent basis and be a constant threat for us has been everything we’ve hoped for when we got (Boyagian) back this year,” Doremus said.
Todd Goehring has six points in six games since returning to the Titans, after he started the season with the Chicago Steel of the United States Hockey League. Doremus said he believes that the team has yet to see Goehring reach his full potential.
“Our expectations of Todd are very high. We think highly of him and think he can add a lot to our lineup, our team and our dressing room,” he said. “We expect more and he knows that, and we’re going to push him to be the best he possibly can and get ready for college hockey.”
In the series finale against the Tomahawks, Gavin Gulash scored midway through the 3rd period that ended up as the game-winning goal. It was his first as a Titan, and Doremus commends the hard work he’s been putting in throughout the season.
“Gavin has not once put himself above the team, he’s battled to get in the lineup and understands some of the stuff he has to work on to be an everyday player in this league,” Doremus said. “He has tried and worked hard every day in practice to improve and get better while approaching it with the right attitude and an open mind. Sunday was a culmination of all of that effort and hard work.”
Now the Titans (9-5-1-1) will get ready for their first game against the Philly Rebels (12-2-0) since last year’s East Division Final. The two were supposed to play last month, but the game was postponed due to unsafe ice conditions at the Class of 1923 Arena.
The team held a video session before taking the trip down to Philadelphia, as they not only try to scout the Rebels, but identify parts of their own play that they can fix before facing the Robertson Cup runner-ups.
“Some of the guys in the dressing room know them well from our past battles last year with coach (Joe) Coombs and his players so we know what they like to do,” he said. “But we’re not overly focused on them too much because it’s also about what we do, and wanting to execute with the style tactical play we want to put in place.”
The first game takes place tonight at 7:10 p.m., and all of the action will be streamed on hockeytv.com.