The New Jersey Titans ended their 2024 NAHL Showcase with a 4-2 loss to the Anchorage Wolverines on Friday morning at the National Sports Center Super Rink in Blaine, Minnesota.
A rematch of the 2022 Robertson Cup Final, the Titans looked to repeat history and head back to New Jersey with a victory. Instead, they found themselves shorthanded less than five minutes into the game when a faceoff violation resulted in a penalty, which Anchorage quickly capitalized on to take the 1-0 lead. The Titans found themselves short again with 2:30 to go in the period, and a deflected shot found the back of the net as the penalty expired to put New Jersey down by two through twenty minutes of play.
The Titans found themselves shorthanded and down two men with a pair of penalties 19 seconds apart less than seven minutes into the middle frame. New Jersey would kill the 5 on 3, but a scrum in front of Titans’ goaltender Charlie Mistretta minutes later saw Ryan Novo receive a five minute major for cross checking and a game misconduct. Shorthanded again, defenseman Odin Ford stood out by blocking three shots, and an Anchorage penalty evened things up with a four on four. New Jersey could not stay out of the box themselves, and the four on three became another five on three disadvantage as the Wolverine’s penalty expired. Again Ford would throw himself into the Anchorage shooting lanes, and a timely save by Mistretta saw the Titans kill off the second five on three of the period. However, back at even strength, a shot from the point pinballed off of multiple skates before trickling over the line to put New Jersey down by three.
An Anchorage penalty with under a minute to play in the second would give the Titans their fourth power play of the morning. Owen Leahy forced a turnover deep in the Anchorage zone, causing the puck to squirt into the slot where Saxen Robertson banged home his first goal in the NAHL to give New Jersey life going into the final regulation period. Just over six minutes into the third, Alex Papaspyropoulos potted his second of the season on an odd man rush to draw the Titans within one, with defensemen Odin Ford and Shawn Leary picking up the assists. While momentum was on New Jersey’s side, they could not find a tying goal, and an empty netter doomed the Titans to their fifth straight loss.
The loss marks the second time in the past three seasons that the Titans have not won a game at the NAHL Showcase, going 0-4 at the 2022 Showcase in the midst of a six game slide to begin the 2022-23 season. With a record of 1-5-1, New Jersey will continue their 11 game road trip to open the season next Friday, October 4th, when they head to Canton, Massachusetts to face the Northeast Generals in their new home at 7:00pm.