Weekend Preview: 11/29 – 11/30/19; Titans travel to Piney Orchard to play two against Black Bears

Nov 29, 2019

The Titans travel to Piney Orchard Ice Arena today to play two games against the Maryland Black Bears. Both games – Friday, November 29 and Saturday, November 30 – begin at 7:00 PM. This will be the second time within three weeks that the teams will have played each other.

The games this weekend begin a five-game road swing for the Titans. And, with nine games remaining before the Christmas break, the Titans will play seven of those nine games on the road.

Titans vs. Black Bears Overview
These two teams have met four times with the Titans winning three of them by a combined score of 26 – 20. The lone Black Bears win occurred when Logan Kittleson scored in a shootout to give the Black Bears a 4 – 3 win. The loss to Maryland broke a Titans ten game win streak – the longest in franchise history.

Wilmer Skoog (5 goals and 3 assists) and Brayden Stannard (2 goals and 6 assists) each have eight points against the Titans while Skoog has scored the most goals with five. Maryland is 2 for 10 (20%) on the power play. The Black Bears netminders have a combined 5.11 goals against average and .808 save percentage.

Mitch Machlett has the most points against Maryland with nine (1 goal and 8 assists) while Kyle Jeffers has scored the most goals with five. The Titans are 5 for 15 (33%) on the power play. Arseni Sergeev and Patrick Pugliese have a combined 3.93 goals against average and .859 save percentage.

Black Bears Overview
Maryland is currently in fifth place in the East Division with an 9 – 10 – 4 record for 22 points, fifteen points behind division leading New Jersey. They have scored 77 goals (ninth in the league) while they have allowed 79 (seventeenth in the league).  They are 4 – 3 – 3 in their last ten games, and they are coming off a 5 – 4 overtime road loss to the Johnstown Tomahawks. The Black Bears have converted on 19.8% of their chances on the power play (12th in the league) while they have prevented the opposition from scoring 78% (17th in the league) on the penalty kill.

Skoog leads the team in points with 32 (15 goals and 17 assists), and he also leads the team in goals (15). Logan Kons has the most game winning goals with three. Thomas Jarman and Brayden Stannard each have a team high +6. Cameron Recchi leads the team with seventy penalty minutes.

Maryland’s goaltenders have a combined 3.20 goals against average and .898 save percentage with no shutout.

Titans Overview
The Titans currently lead the East Division with a 18-2-0-1 record for 37 points. New Jersey has won nine of its last ten games, and they are coming off a 5 – 2 home win against the Maine Nordiques. They have scored 105 goals (most in the league) and have allowed 61 (ninth in the league). The Titans also lead the league on the power play having converted on 33.8% of their chances while they have prevented the opposition from scoring on the penalty kill 85.1% of the time (eighth best in the league).

Machlitt leads the team in total points with thirty-one (15 goals and 16 assists), goals (15) and +/- with +18. Machlitt and Michael Outzen each have three game winning goals.  Kyler Head and Mac Wiseman each have thirty penalty minutes to lead the team.

The goaltending tandem of Pugliese (2.66 GAA and .914 SV%) and Sergeev (2.94 GAA and .911 SV%) have a combined 2.77 goals against average and .912 save percentage with one shutout (Pugliese).