The New Jersey Titans split their weekend series against the Northeast Generals at the New England Sports Village in Attleboro, Massachusetts, this weekend, winning 5-0 on Friday before dropping Saturday night’s game 4-1.
Friday night saw a first period marred by delays. First, an ice malfunction behind the New Jersey net caused a ten minute wait while it was patched up. Then, close to the same area of the ice, Brian Robertson was hit from behind and would remain on the ice attended to by trainers before being helped to the locker room. The uncalled check would knock Robertson out of playing for the remainder of the weekend. The referee would order the ice to be resurfaced after the hit, sending the teams to their locker rooms with 6:14 to go in the period. Neither team would find the back of the net on the fresh ice, and the teams would switch ends for the nominal beginning of period number two. Going on the power play 1:09 into the second period, Matej Teply put the Titans on the board with his 3rd of the season off a goal mouth scramble. Ryan Novo doubled the lead at 8:26 on a snap shot from the slot for his 3rd of the season, and Logan Renkowski converted on a breakaway for his 4th at 11:24 to stretch the lead to three. Goaltender Zak Brice picked up his first assist in the NAHL to begin the play. It was Brice’s first point since February 26th, 2022, when he was a member of the Powell River Kings of the BCHL. Goals by Dominik Bartecko and Kristofers Krumins gave New Jersey the 5-0 victory, and Brice secured his 1st shutout of the season and 4th of his NAHL career.
Saturday took a markedly different tone, with the Titans finding themselves shorthanded 2:55 into the game, and on a 5 on 3 kill just over a minute later. Conceding a goal on the 2 man disadvantage, they were called for another penalty immediately after the tally, and surrendered another goal on the ensuing penalty kill to trail 2-0 in the first 6:40 of the game. Northeast added another goal 81 seconds into the second period, stretching their lead to three. Ryan Friedman would get New Jersey on the board 1:44 into the third period for his 5th of the year, but the Titans could not find the back of the net again. An empty net goal with 17.5 seconds to go brought the final score to 4-1 in favor of the Generals.
With the weekend split, New Jersey remains tied with New Hampshire for the 6th and final playoff spot in the East Division. With one more win than the Mountain Kings, the Titans currently hold the tiebreaker. Now New Jersey looks forward to a busy week to end the 2023 calendar year, with three home games on the docket. They begin tomorrow, December 12th, against the Philadelphia Rebels with a 7:30pm faceoff at the Middletown Sports Complex. Then, they encounter the New Hampshire Mountain Kings for the first time in franchise history with games on Friday, December 15th at 7:30pm, and Saturday, December 16th, at 7:00pm. Friday night’s game is the Titans’ annual Teddy Bear Toss, where fans who arrive at the arena with a stuffed animal will receive free admission. All donated items will benefit patients at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital.