A second trip to overtime in their past 3 games would not prove fruitful for the New Jersey Titans as they lost to the Maine Nordiques on Saturday night 4-3 in a shootout at The Colisee in Lewiston, Maine.
Once again the Titans would give up the first goal of the game, this time just over three minutes into the opening frame. Captain Ryan Novo would draw New Jersey level at the 15:25 mark with his first of the season, after he put home a rebound from a Lucas Marshall shot off an Archer Brown faceoff win. The Titans out shot 11-8 in the first period.
Novo then gave the Titans the lead with a shorthanded marker 3:16 into the second period to give New Jersey the lead, when he quickly roofed a feed from Ryan Friedman to put Titans ahead. However, pair of Nordique goals later in the period would give Maine the lead going into the second intermission. The Titans were fortunate to only trail by a goal after being out shot 23-4 in the period, and 31-15 through 40 minutes of play.
Odin Ford found the back of the net 4:13 into the third period when his shot from the point went top shelf off a defensive stick for his first of the season, with Saxon Robertson picking up his first point in the NAHL with the lone assist off a Nik Reich pass. New Jersey would out shoot the Nordiques 17-12, but could not take the lead on four straight power play opportunities to close out regulation time. While the Titans would limit Maine to a single shot in overtime, New Jersey found themselves in a shootout for the second time in the past three games.
The Nordiques would sneak a goal past Titans’ starting goalie Austin McNicholas with their first shot, and New Jersey could not conjure up another come from behind victory, losing by a score of 4-3 for the second night in a row. While the Titans have scored 3 goals in their first four games, they now sit with a 1-2-1 record to begin the season.
New Jersey will not have much to reflect on the weekend with the NAHL Showcase beginning in Blaine, Minnesota, on Wednesday. The Titans schedule does not get much easier, as they will face off against the defending Robertson Cup Champion Lone Star, along with a pair of hungry teams from Alaska. The NAHL Showcase begins for New Jersey on September 25th with a meeting against the Fairbanks Ice Dogs at 2:45pm. Zak McGinniss will have the call live on NAHLtv.com.