The New Jersey Titans’ offense prevailed in a 7-2 victory over the Northeast Generals at New England Sports Village on Saturday night.
Gavin Gulash, Michael Outzen and Zach Nazzarett recorded two goals each while Thomas Lacombe scored his first as a Titan. Matt Ladd was rock-solid in net, making 31 saves as New Jersey improved its record to 11-6-0.
Outzen gave the Titans a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period. Gulash won the faceoff, and the puck slid to Outzen at the right faceoff dot before he ripped a shot high-glove side for his fourth goal of the season.
Gulash extended the lead with two goals in the second period. At 3:13, he fired a wrister from the right faceoff circle for a power-play goal. Seven minutes later, Eric Manoukian and Outzen each made a drop pass, creating enough space in the high slot for the Red Bank native to score his sixth goal of the season.
Near the end of the second period, the Titans struck two more times in a span of seven seconds. Zach Nazzarett buried a rebound at 17:31, and right off the following faceoff, Outzen scored his second goal on an odd-man rush. The middle period was capped by Ladd stopping Louis Boudon on a shorthanded breakaway in the final minute.
Nazzarett scored his second of this night at 4:54 of the third period, when a give-and-go attempt with Naumovski banked off a defender’s skate and went past Generals goaltender David Fessenden. Northeast finally responded with a pair of goals midway through the third, with tallies from Matthew Rutigliano and Kyle Gierman, but it was not enough to mount a comeback.
Just as the game started to wind down in the final two minutes, Lacombe intercepted a cross-ice pass near the Generals’ blue line. He walked in and took a shot that glanced off a skate and beat Fessenden five-hole for his first goal of the season. The recent Union commit had three assists in his first 14 games before he finally found the back of the net, as his goal was icing on the cake in the Titans’ 7-2 win.
Having won eight of its last nine games, the Titans will look to continue its momentum with a sweep over the Generals. The teams will play a Sunday matinee at 1:30 p.m., and the game will be available for streaming on hockeytv.com.