Trenton, NJ – The Trenton Titans knew they were against the odds.
Not only are they still playing for their playoff hopes, which are slim at this present time, but the Titans were also playing against a team they haven’t defeated in nearly three years. But they have finally put that streak to an end.
The Titans were finally able to defeat the Cyclones, 2-1, last night at the Sun National Bank Center. The Titans had to win in the shootout to overcome the Cyclones.
With the win, the Titans are 27-29-5-4 for 62 points. On the other hand, the Cyclones are 40-17-5-3 for 88 points.
The Cyclones attempted to become the first team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff berth. And Cincinnati can finish no worse than a tie with Toledo for the North Division title.
It has been a month since these two teams last faced each other. It was February 26th when the Titans traveled to Cincinnati to face the Cyclones at U.S. Bank Arena.
The Titans scored first in that game, with Stephen Schultz scoring the first goal in the game to make it 1-0. Then, the Cyclones scored four straight unanswered goals immediately following Schultz’s goal. The outcome was a 7-4 win for the Cyclones at the U.S. Bank Arena that night.
The Cyclones are a 6-1 on the season against the Titans. And this was their final meeting of the season. Cincinnati head coach Jarrod Skalde had not lost to Trenton in his coaching career with the Cyclones since being hired in August 2010, but that has come to an end now.
The Titans and the former Trenton Devils are 3-10-0-2 since the 2009-10 season against the Cyclones, which including a 2-3-0-1 record at home. One has to go all the way back until November 5, 2010 to find the last time the Titans defeated the Cyclones, which was a 5-4 win in overtime at the Sun National Bank Center until last night.
It has been nearly four years since the Trenton franchise has won in Cincinnati, going back to November 18, 2009. In that game, the then Devils won 4-2 over the Cyclones.
After the overtime session, where neither team was able to score, the game went into a shootout. It was the Titans first shootout game since March 1st when they defeated the Wheeling Nailers 3-2 on the road.
Neither team scored in the third period, causing the game to go into overtime. It is only the second time this season that these two teams have went into the extra session. Back on January 20th, the Titans and the Cyclones went into a shootout, in which the Cyclones came out the victors with a 4-3 win.
This game also went into a shootout. Unlike, the other shootout contest with the Cyclones, the Titans is now 1-1 in a shootout this season against Cincinnati. Titans captain Andy Bohmbach was the only player to score in the shootout to give the Titans the big win.
In the second period, the Cyclones were able to tie the game at 1-1. Jeremy Tucker was able to score his second goal of the season by beating Titans goalie Cal Heeter about 9 minutes into the second period.
The Titans took an early lead late in the first period. With about a minute and a half left in the first period, Trenton scored to make it 1-0 on a power play goal by Bryan Haczyk.
Haczyk’s goal came when Cyclones forward Mike Embach was in the penalty box. Embach went into the penalty box a minute and twenty seconds after being called for goalie interference.
Cyclones goalie Michael Houser made 36 saves in regulation, and made 3 saves in the shootout. Titans goalie Cal Heeter made 35 saves and was a perfect 5-0 in the shootout.
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