BRANTFORD, ONT – The Brantford Titans returned home on Saturday and welcomed the Caledon Bombers to town for the second time this season. The Titans have dominated the season series so far, winning 6-0 in Caledon back on November 21st and reaching double digits on January 17th by taking down the Bombers 10-4. It was a quick turnaround for both sides after each team was in action on Friday night, both suffering losses. Lukas Bergman got the call in goal for the Titans while the Bombers countered with Nolan Nicoll.
The first period would begin with a few hard and fast shifts by both sides as each team looked to draw first blood in this matchup. With a quick turnaround for both sides, they knew it would be important to set the tone early and get on the board first. The Bombers would hand the Titans the first great opportunity to strike first as Dane Skillings and Gabriel Grobanopolous would each receive a minor penalty on the same play to give the Titans a full two minute, 5 on 3 advantage. 1:15 into the power play, it would be the captain Adam Stipan finding the back of the net at the side of the cage to put his team in front, exactly eight minutes into the game. Lui Indzers and Cristian Glowacki recorded the assists on Stipan’s 11th goal of the season. The Bombers would start to find their legs a little bit more as the first period went along and they would have some good looks on goal, but Bergman was not letting anything past him in the first twenty minutes, stopping all 15 shots that he saw in the first frame. Nicoll pretty much had to match him at the other end as he saw 18 shots sent his way, only allowing one past him. Titans would take the 1-0 lead into the intermission.
The second period would start the same way the first period did. The two teams would play just over two and a half minutes of uninterrupted hockey with chances at both ends. The flood gates would appear to be creeping open though as we started to get closer to the midway point of the hockey game. A shot from Glowacki would bounce right on to the stick of Kaleb Frank and with Nicoll out of position, Frank had the entire net to shoot at and he made not mistake, giving his team a 2-0 lead. Glowacki and Connor Clark assisted on Frank’s 19th of the season. The Bombers would quickly answer back however. Shane Polaczek would bang it home right off the face-off in the offensive zone to cut the lead in half and make it 2-1. Less than a minute later, Kaden Wicklander would receive a pass from Isaac Bandoo and Wicklander would tuck it past Nicoll to restore the Titans two goal lead. It would be Bandoo’s first point as a Titan, with Gavin Christie also picking up an assist. At 14:52, at failed clearing attempt by the Titans would result in the Bombers getting back within one goal as Michael Pope fired home his 22nd goal of the season to make it 3-2. The rough stuff would start to intensify with about two and half minutes to go as Gavin Christie would drop the gloves with Ty Ensom resulting in those two receiving five minute majors and game misconducts. The Titans would take a 3-2 lead into the second intermission, also outshooting Caledon 33-29 through two periods.
The third period provided a ton of entertainment for fans as the two teams kept everyone on the edge of their seats. The Bombers had a few grade A scoring chances to tie the game, however Lukas Bergman stood tall to keep his team out in front. Skipping ahead to the late stages of the game, the Bombers would call a timeout with less than two minutes to go in the game and they would keep their goaltender on the bench for the extra attacker. They would get one good look at the net 6 on 5 but the Titans would find their way out of their own end and it would result in Kaleb Frank hitting the empty cage for this second goal of the game and 20th of the season to put this one on ice. Titans take it 4-2 and improve to 16-20-3-0 on the season. Lukas Bergman made 37 saves on 39 shots to collect his second win of the season while Nicoll made 41 saves in the loss.
The Brantford Titans are back in action on February 7th on home ice against the Ayr Centennials. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:00pm.
