With a fresh face in net and three forwards back in the lineup, the Toledo Walleye still could not emerge from a slump Friday night at the Huntington Center.

Toledo fell behind Trenton 3-0 midway through the game before rallying to make it 3-2 early in the third period. But the Titans responded with two unanswered goals and skated away with a 5-2 win before a crowd of 5,268.

Kyle Rogers, Toledo's leading scorer, tallied his eighth goal of the season late in the second period. Harrison Reed, who returned to the Walleye from a call-up to the American Hockey League, scored 53 seconds into the third period.

Goaltender Rob Nolan, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Express on Wednesday, made his debut in a Walleye uniform. Nolan (6-9-1) finished with 33 saves.

Reed, Paul Zanette, and David Toews were back on the ice for Toledo. Reed scored early in the third period, and Zanette got an assist.

After winning three straight to pull to the .500 mark at 13-13-1 on Dec. 27, Toledo has now dropped three in a row and fell to 13-16-1.

"Obviously, we are struggling right now," Walleye coach Nick Vitucci said. "It was important for us to get on the board early, and it didn't happen, and it didn't deserve to happen. We were flat, lazy, and some of us were a little scared, and that's not good enough. It wasn't a good night at all."

It was a matchup of the teams with the worst records in the Eastern Conference. Toledo has been outscored 15-3 in its last three games and now has the fewest points (27) in the 12-team conference.

Trenton (12-15-5) entered the game with the worst penalty kill unit in the ECHL, but the Walleye went 1 of 7 on the power play.

Chase Langeraap and Ryan Hayes scored in the first period when the Titans put 19 shots on net. Trenton then scored a shorthanded goal to make it 3-0 with 12:16 left in the second period on Langeraap's second of the night.

However, Toledo answered with two goals in a span of less than three minutes. The Walleye continued to pick up the pace late in the game.

"Scoring late in the second period gave us momentum," Vitucci said. "And then we scored early in the third period and we flooded them for quite a while afterwards. But if you don't work hard for 60 minutes you're going to be a day late and a dollar short".

Rogers got the Walleye on the board with a power-play goal with 1:59 left in the second period. Reed made it 3-2 just 53 seconds into the third as he ripped a slap shot past Trenton goalie Dave Caruso (38 saves).

"We had to stay positive and play together," Reed said.

But Myles Stoesz ended any comeback bid by the Walleye when he scored with 2:36 left, and Matt Germain added an empty-netter with 1:14 remaining.

Toledo was awarded a penalty shot late in the game, but Reed could not score.

"We're frustrated," Reed said. "At this point, every game is important. So I like coming back here. I really like Toledo."

With his team down by 1 midway through the third, Nolan came up with a save on a two-on-one breakaway and then made a solid pad save to keep it a one-goal game. Nolan made a great glove save early in the second period with his team already trailing by two goals.

Vitucci said Nolan played well but was hampered by bad reads and lack of execution by the defense.

"We were awful in front of our net. They were able to get second and third shots," Vitucci said.

The Titans grabbed an early 1-0 lead as Langeraap scored on a rebound 11:32 into the game. Trenton then took a 2-0 lead with 6:02 left in the opening period as Hayes was left uncovered in front of Toledo's net and one-timed a shot past Nolan.

The Walleye are in the midst of a three-game homestand this weekend, and they host Greenville Saturday night. Toledo is now 8-8-1 at home.

"It's a tough three games here, and we just have to work hard and play better," Reed said.

FISH TALES: Toledo finished with a 40-38 edge in shots. … Rogers surpassed Evan Rankin for the most points this season for a Walleye player. Rankin was called up to the AHL and has not played for Toledo since Nov. 23 but still led the team with 18 points (10 G, 8 A). Rankin has 12 points in 13 games with Rochester of the AHL. … The crowd grew antsy after the Walleye failed to convert on their fifth power play of the night. With a steady parade to the penalty box in the second period, Toledo could not convert on a two-man advantage that lasted 22 seconds. … Zanette returned to the lineup from a hand injury that kept him on the injured reserve list since Nov. 11. … A fight broke out between Toledo's Matt Krug and Denny Kearney late in the game.

Contact Mark Monroe at: mmonroe@theblade.com, 419-724-6354 or on Twitter @MonroeBlade.