Battle Of Goaltenders Belongs To Elmira, 2-0
February 7, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Trenton Devils News Release
Trenton, NJ, February 7, 2010 - Both goalies received stars for Sunday's performance at SunCenter, but only Elmira goalie Julien Ellis claimed victory. Starting his fourth game in a row, Trenton netmider Dave Caruso matched Ellis with one exception at the hands of the Donati brothers in the second period. Now winners of three games in three days, the division leaders sustained a batch of Devils odd man breaks throughout the game, also killing four Trenton power play chances.
Seeking to extend the effort from Friday's 4-1 win over Reading, the Devils mounted a string of chances in the first period, doubling Elmira's shot output, 14-7. Jack Combs provided the first period's best scoring chance, dancing through the Elmira defense and nearly slipping the puck past Ellis' right pad. The Jackals goaltender had stayed with Combs' forehand deke, kicking back to the right post in time to stymie the St. Louis native at 12:37.
The Jackals finally solved Caruso on a fake slap shot from Justin Donati. From the right wing circle, Justin appeared to be winding for a slap shot, but instead angled the puck softly to the slot, finding brother Tyler Donati on the tape. With Caruso drawn to the fake slap shot, Tyler scored the eventual game winning goal, his 22nd of the season. In the process, Justin extended his point streak to seven games and Mat Robinson had the other assist. Even with a 1-0 lead at 12:38 of the second, the pace of the game continued with multiple breakaway chances for the Devils, including two with Dan Eves and Carter Lee.
Both goaltenders made sparkling saves through the rest of the game but the Devils multiple scoring chances were thwarted by bad bounces, solid Elmira defense, and the game's first star, Ellis. Rick Kowalsky pulled Caruso with 1:40 left in the third for an extra forward, but the Devils' scrambling attack could not get in sync. On what seemed to be a good feed to the slot, none of the Devil attackers were in the middle of the ice and the Jackals cleared the puck and Olivier Proulx scored an empty net goal with 40 seconds left in the game, spoiling the Devils' chance to tie.
Julien Ellis made 31 saves for his first shutout of the season, the fifth professional blanking for the 2004 Vancouver draftee, and the first shutout for Elmira since last March. Dave Caruso made 26 stops in his 14th regulation loss this season. Shutout for the sixth time of the season and second time in three games, Trenton (17-22-4-5, 43pts) remains seven points behind second place Reading, the team that comes to Trenton Friday at 7 p.m. to close out the Devils' four-game homestand.
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