The New Jersey Titans saw their six game winning streak snapped on home ice Friday night, dropping a 4-3 decision to the Johnstown Tomahawks in the first matchup between the teams this season.
While New Jersey was able to secure the first goal of the game in each of their last four, they could not tonight, as the Tomahawks found the back of the net less than two minutes after the opening faceoff. Johnstown then doubled their lead twelve minutes later, putting New Jersey down by two. Jack Hillier scored with 3.5 seconds remaining in the period for his 7th goal of the season, extending his point streak to 7 straight games. Ryan Novo and Odin Ford picked up the assists and found their deficit cut in half after 20 minutes of play.
The Tomahawks would strike again just over half way through the second period, again putting the Titans down by two. For the third period in a row, New Jersey scored in the final minute of play when Ryan Novo potted a rebound off an Alex Papaspyropoulos shot with 53.7 seconds to go for his 7th of the year. Ryan Shaw had the other assist, extending his point streak to eight games, and the Titans again trailed by 1 going into the second intermission.
In a repeat of the previous frame, Johnstown scored off a deflection to restore the two goal lead. New Jersey answered 1:11 later when Owen Leahy tucked in a rebound for his 5th of the season after Kyle Kim sent the puck on goal. Hillier had the secondary assist for his sixth multipoint game of the season. However, the Titans could not draw even, and fell for the first time in their past seven games, losing by a score of 4-3.
With the loss, coupled with wins by Rochester and Elmira, New Jersey drops from third to fifth place in the East Division. The teams will be back in action tomorrow night, with the opening faceoff scheduled for 7:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by following this link.