Black Bears Gear up for Final Home Regular Season Series against Titans

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NAHL Maryland Black Bears

Black Bears Gear up for Final Home Regular Season Series against Titans

March 27, 2025 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Maryland Black Bears News Release


The Maryland Black Bears are coming off a hard-fought series split against the playoff-hungry Philadelphia Rebels. The Black Bears beat the Rebels in a 3-2 nailbiter on Friday night before falling 6-2 to Philadelphia on Saturday. Despite the split, Maryland still maintains the driver's seat for the East Division's second seed, which would secure a postseason bye week through the play-in round. The Black Bears, who are now 34-16-5 with 73 points, lead the third place Maine Nordiques (69 points) by four points and need five points through their last four games to clinch the two seed. They look to this weekend to take a big step toward that goal, as they host the fourth seed New Jersey Titans, who have a 29-19-7 record with 65 points and are 6-3-1 in their last ten games.

Night one highlighted Maryland's ability to thrive in games where goals come in bunches. While Black Bears forward Isac Nielsen opened the scoring late in the second period, a total of four goals were scored in the third, all in a span of five minutes and 44 seconds. Philadelphia tied the game at 1-1 just past the halfway point of the third period before Maryland forward Owen Drury regained the lead for the Black Bears at 2-1. However, the lead was gone in the blink of an eye as the Rebels tied the game back up just 11 seconds later. Maryland would not be deterred by this, and just a minute and 29 seconds later forward Luke Janus delivered the eventual game-winning goal for the Black Bears, making the score 3-2 as Maryland would hold on for the win. Black Bears goaltender Ryan Denes made 37 saves in his twelfth win of the season. Night two wouldn't be as forgiving for Maryland, as they yielded the first two goals of the game in the second period to make it 2-0 Philadelphia. Janus was able to cash in his second goal of the weekend to cut the lead in half, but the Rebels responded less than a minute later to make the score 3-1 after two periods. Black Bears defenseman Dylan Gordon made it a one goal game by scoring in the third period's opening minutes, cutting the deficit to 3-2. However, Maryland would be unable to build on the momentum, yielding the next three goals to lose 6-2. Denes made 15 saves on 19 shots before being replaced in the third period by Marko Bilic, who made three saves on four shots.

New Jersey faced a crucial series for them this past weekend against their likely play-in round opponent, the Johnstown Tomahawks, as the two teams battled for home ice advantage to start the postseason. The Titans entered last weekend trailing the Tomahawks by just one point but were about to change that in a big way. Game one was a game of catch-up for New Jersey, falling behind twice by a goal in the first 40 minutes. Forward Johnny McMahon tied the game at 1-1 before Johnstown retook the lead, and forward Ryan Novo responded once again to see the score at 2-2. They trailed 3-2 heading into the third before getting goals from forwards Owen Leahy, Ryan Novo and Nikita Meshcheryakov to secure a 5-3 win. Night two was much more of a dominant affair for New Jersey, with Novo setting the tone with his third goal of the weekend in the first period to make the score 1-0. The Titans took control in the second period with goals from forwards James Taylor, Jack Hillier, and Owen Leahy for a 4-0 lead. Johnstown got a goal back in the third, but it was not enough as New Jersey prevailed 4-1. Titans goaltender Austin McNicholas played stellar in the series, stopping 67 shots between the two games. Before heading to Maryland, however, New Jersey made a visit to Philadelphia for a Tuesday night tilt. It seemed the Titans would continue their dominant ways, with Hillier and Nikita Meshcheryakov starting the scoring in the first period along with defenseman Saxen Robertson to take an early 3-0 lead. However, the Rebels would storm back in the second period to tie the game at 3-3 before beating the Titans 4-3 in overtime.

Maryland and New Jersey have split both weekend sets this season, with the Titans winning in regulation and the Black Bears winning in overtime in both instances. The last time these two teams faced off in Maryland back in mid-December, New Jersey won 5-3 in the first game before Kareem El-Bashir exacted revenge with an overtime game-winning goal for a 4-3 Black Bears win. Round two came in mid-January in Middletown, NJ, with the Titans winning the first game 2-0 and Maryland winning game two 4-3 off the back of a Harrison Smith overtime winner.

Players To Watch:

Ryan Novo (F, NJY): Novo has continued his career year in impressive fashion, with his 23 goals ranked second on the team. He had three goals in two important games against the Johnstown Tomahawks last weekend and has scored at least one goal in three of New Jersey's last four series.

Luke Janus (F, MYD): Janus has been a driving force behind the Maryland offense for the last month. In his last eight games, Janus has four goals and eight assists for 12 points. During the Black Bears' recent five game point streak, Janus tallied two goals and five assists for seven points, showing he can be a key cog in the team's success this season.

Maryland and New Jersey face off on Friday, March 28th, at 7:00 p.m. ET, and Saturday, March 29th, at 6:30 p.m. ET with both games played at Piney Orchard Ice Arena. All games can be streamed on NAHLTV.

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