The New Jersey Titans will skate in their first home and home series this season when they face the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks on Friday and Saturday nights. First, the Titans will take the road up to the Hat City on Friday for their third game of the season at the Danbury Arena, with a scheduled 7pm faceoff. Then, the teams will head south to Middletown for a Saturday night game at the Middletown Sports Complex, again with a 7pm start.
New Jersey opened the 2023-24 season in Danbury on September 8th and 9th, with the Titans securing all four points. However, it wouldn’t come easily. After surrendering the first goal of the game, New Jersey scored five in a row, with goals from Ryan Novo, Ethan Wongus, Leo Schwartz, Dominick Rivelli, and Ryan Friedman. An injury to Ethan Wongus kept him out of the rest of the game, and five straight goals by the Hat Tricks gave them a 6 to 5 lead halfway through the third period. Kristofers Krumins would tie the game with under six minutes to go, and Johnny McMahon played the overtime hero to give New Jersey the 7-6 victory. Arhip Sidarovich recorded 3 assists, along with two point nights from Wongus, Friedman, Novo, and McMahon.
The second game of the season would see each team’s goaltenders hold the fort, with the Titans putting 22 shots on goal in the first period alone, which remains a season high. Each team found the back of the net in the second period. For New Jersey, it was Dominik Bartecko tying the game with 3:01 to go in the period, and Krumins scored his second of the weekend in the third period to send the Titans home with a 2-0-0 record. Dylan Krick stopped 19 of 20 shots on goal for his first win in the NAHL.