The Titans and Maryland Black Bears will play a home-and-home series this weekend with Friday’s game starting at Piney Orchard Arena at 6:30 PM while Saturday’s puck drop will be at 7:00 PM at the Middletown Sports Complex.
Black Bears and Titans Overview
The weekend marks the eleventh and twelfth times these teams will meet this season. The Titans have won six of the previous ten games by a combined score of 41 to 28. Each team has won in a shootout and the Titans have won the last three contests. The last time they met was a month ago in Piney Orchard Arena with the Titans winning by the scores of 5 – 2 and 2 – 0 respectively. After this weekend, the team will meet for the final time at the end of this month (April 29 and 30 at Piney Orchard).
Daniel Colabufo leads the Black Bears with seven total points (2 goals and 5 assists) against the Titans while Jack Brackett has the most goals (four) against New Jersey. The Black Bears are 2 for 22 (9%) on the powerplay while their goaltenders have a combined 3.84 goals against average and .894 save percentage with no shutouts.
Evan Werner leads the Titans with ten points (7 goals and 3 assists) against the Black Bears while Jack Ring has four goals (7 points in all) against Maryland. The Titans are 7 for 35 (20%) on the powerplay while the team’s goaltenders have a 2.56 goals against average and .926 save percentage with one shutout (Christian Stoever).
Black Bears Overview
Maryland is currently in fourth place in the East Division with a 14-18-5-2 record for 35 points (12 points behind the Titans although Maryland has two games in hand). They are coming off a 2 – 1 road loss to the Northeast Generals, and they have won two out of their last ten games. The Black Bears have scored 104 goals on the season (16th in the league) while they have allowed 125 (15th in the league). Maryland is 12 for 142 (8.3%) on the powerplay (worst in the league). They have five short-handed goals allowed. The Black Bears are 88% efficient on the penalty kill (fourth in the league).
Hunter McCoy leads Maryland in total points with twenty-five (11 goals and 14 assists). Luke Mountain leads the team with thirteen goals and game winning goals (three). Sean Kilcullen has a team high +10. McCoy leads the team in penalty minutes with 94.
Maryland’s goaltenders have a combined 2.97 goals against average and .915 save percentage with no shutouts.
Titans Overview
The Titans are currently in third place in the East Division with a 20-14-2-5 for 47 points. They are coming off a 3 – 0 road loss to the Johnstown Tomahawks. They have won five out their last ten games but have lost four straight. New Jersey has scored 141 goals on the season (third in the league) while they have allowed 132 (17th in the league). The Titans have converted on 18.1% (29 for 160) of their chances on the powerplay (11th in the league). They have allowed five goals while on the man advantage. The Red Buckets are 84.8% efficient on the penalty kill (eighth in the league). The Titans have scored the most shorthanded goals in the league with 12.
Nick Seitz leads the team with 33 total points (15 goals and 18 assists) while Werner leads the team in goals (17). Seitz also has the most game winning goals with three. Anthony Mollica has a team best +16. Brad Zona has a team high 109 penalty minutes.
The Titans have a combined 3.00 goals against average and .919 save percentage with two shutouts (Stoever and Loudon Hogg).