The Maine Nordiques and the New Jersey Titans cooled off after combining for five goals in the first period.
Only two more goals were scored for the remaining 40 minutes of the game as the Titans completed a weekend sweep of the Nordiques with a 5-2 victory in Middletown, New Jersey.
The Titans opened up a 2-0 lead in the first period as Michael Outzen and Jake LaRusso found the back of the net, beating Nordiques goalie Avery Sturtz.
The Nordiques battled back in the second half of the period to draw even. Makem Demers notched his sixth goal of the season and Stefan Owens, who had one of the two assists on Demers’ goal, tied the game at 2-2 with a power play tally.
Maine was 1-for-4 on the power play, while New Jersey went scoreless on one opportunity.
New Jersey retook the lead 37 seconds later, with 2:04 remaining in the period, when Brody Medeiros’ goal made it 3-2 heading into the first intermission.
Both teams’ goaltenders were coming off long layoffs. Sturtz made his first start in a month after a stint with the Sioux City Musketeers of the United States Hockey League in which he didn’t play any games. Arseni Sergeev, a 16-year-old from Russia, was making his first start in two weeks for the Titans.
Sturtz made 22 saves, while Sergeev stopped 26 shots in the win.
After a scoreless second period, Chris Garbe stretched the lead to 4-2 for New Jersey near the nine-minute mark of the third period. Gavin Gulash later tacked on an empty net goal.
The Nordiques host the Kenai River Brown Bears next Friday and Saturday at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee. Both games start at 7 p.m.
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