Bombers' power play stings Jackals 3-1

Published on January 5, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Three power play goals in the third period lifted the Dayton Bombers past the Elmira Jackals 3-1 Saturday night in front of 3,956 fans at the Nutter Center. The loss ended the Jackals road regulation unbeaten streak at ten games (8-0-1-1) and snapped their three-game winning streak.

After a scoreless opening period, the Jackals were playing shorthanded with six minutes to go in the middle frame when they struck for what turned out to be their only goal of the night.

Kevin Ulanski came up with a loose puck in the neutral zone and sped across the Dayton line with a two-on-one break developing. Drawing a defender to him, Ulanski fed the slot to Luke Fulghum who ripped his third shorthanded goal home at 14:24. It was Fulghum's 11th goal of the season with Ulanski drawing the only assist.

Elmira had a chance to double their lead when captain Frank Littlejohn was awarded a penalty shot 7:18 into the third period as Littlejohn popped out the penalty box to field a lead pass from the Jackals end.

The Bombers' Greg Labenski hooked Littlejohn off balance as he broke in on Jeremy Duschesne (27 saves) and referee Keith Kaval immediately signaled to center ice for a penalty shot.

Trying to get Duschesne to open up the pads on the shot, Littlejohn was foiled in his bid for a second penalty shot goal of the season. His other attempt resulted in the game-winning goal November 24th in a 4-1 win over Reading.

With Dayton still in the game, trailing 1-0 with twelve and a half minutes remaining in regulation, the Bombers man-up unit then went to work with a vengeance to change the complexion of the contest.

With Brett Pilkington in the box for hooking, Matt Beaudoin scored from the top of the left circle to tie the game 1-1 at 9:29.

Grant Goeckner-Zoeller notched the go-ahead strike at 14:28 with Littlejohn in the box for interference. Taking a drop pass from Mike Berry in the high slot, Goeckner-Zoeller sent a drive over the blocker of Joel Martin (23 saves) to make it 2-1.

The Bombers sealed the win with a third straight power play goal with 2:02 remaining when Brad Bonello pounced on a loose puck in the slot and wrested home his 9th of the year for a 3-1 final.

After failing on their first four power play chances, the Bombers' second-ranked unit cashed in on its final three tries to go 3-for-7 on the night while the Jackals went 0-for-8 on the man advantage.

The loss, combined with Cincinnati's 8-6 win over Reading, dropped the Jackals two points behind the Cyclones in the race for first place in the North Division.

Following the contest, the Jackals released emergency back-up goaltender Tyler Mittlestead. Mittlestead, formerly on the Wright State University club team, backed up Martin for both contests in Dayton this weekend. Martin ran his consecutive starts streak to sixteen as he has started every game in net since November 27th in Cincinnati.

Benoit Doucet had his eight-game point scoring streak end in Saturday's loss, two games after seeing his six-game goal scoring run end Wednesday in Reading. Doucet's eight-game point streak ties Pierre-Luc Faubert for the longest such streak on the Jackals this season.

The Jackals return home to kick off a four-game home stand at First Arena Friday night against Johnstown and Saturday against Cincinnati. Face-off both nights is 7:35 p.m. and good seats remain for both games at all Ticketmaster outlets, the Gray Street box office at First Arena, or charge-by-phone by calling 734-PUCK (7825) or 722-3711.

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ECHL Stories from January 5, 2008


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