Zak Brice stopped all 26 shots sent his way to record his 3rd shutout of the season as the New Jersey Titans defeated the Philadelphia Rebels by a score of 4-0 on Tuesday night at the Middletown Sports Complex.
New Jersey, the hottest team in the division with an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 games, looked to secure their fifth victory of the season over the Rebels while trying to chase down Johnstown and Rochester for home ice advantage in the East Division Play-In Round.
A scoreless first period saw back and forth action, but with neither team able to find the back of the net. Dominik Bartecko broke the tie 48 seconds into the second period with his 26th goal of the season, firing home a pass from Nikita Meshcheryakov after the Princeton commit forced a turnover in the Philadelphia zone. Kyle Kim then joined a rush two minutes later and went bar down to the glove side for his second of the season. Matej Teply and Johnny McMahon picked up the helpers, and the West Point commit now has 2 goals in his last three games. Kim and Teply finished the game with a team high +3 rating. Reece Brednich then potted his 9th of the year with 6:06 to go in the frame to put the Titans up by three, assisted by Ethan Wongus and Kai Elkie.
Dominick Bartecko etched another entry in New Jersey’s record book when he assisted on Meshcheryakov’s 19th of the season at 8:33 of the third period. Bartecko’s 44th helper of the season is a new franchise high, breaking the previous record of 43 tallied by Ryan Naumovski in the 2018-19 season. Lucas Marshall had the other assist, and Zak Brice was solid the rest of the way for his 20th win of the season. With his 3rd clean sheet of the season, Brice now holds the franchise record of 6 shutouts as a Titan, besting Brandon Perrone’s 5 set over three seasons from 2016 to 2019.
With the victory, the Titans have secured the season series against Philadelphia with a 5-1-1 record, avenging last year’s effort when Philadelphia won the season series. Holding an overall record of 31-21-3, New Jersey trails Johnstown and Rochester by 6 points, with one game in hand. That sets the stage for a vital two game set against Johnstown this weekend in Middletown, with games on Friday, March 29th, at 7:30pm and Saturday, March 30th, at 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by following this link.