Ellis Backstops Jackals To Shutout Victory
February 7, 2010 - ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release
The Elmira Jackals won their third game in three days and Julien Ellis made 31 saves for his fifth career shutout and the first for the Jackals since March of 2009, as they beat the Trenton Devils 2-0 at the Sun National Bank Center in Trenton, N.J. on Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday night, Ellis was near perfect in a 3-2 Jackals win at the Reading Royals, making 29 saves on 31 shots. On Sunday, he turned aside all 31 shots he saw in a game in which he had no room for error.
Tyler Donati scored what proved to be his third game-winning goal in the last five games at 12:38 of the second period. Moments after a Jackals odd-man rush was stopped by Devils goaltender Dave Caruso, who made 26 saves on 27 shots in the loss, Justin Donati found Tyler in the right wing circle who one-timed it past Caruso to give the Jackals the 1-0 advantage.
Ellis had a few crucial shots down the stretch, including a pair on Dave Leaderer from the left circle with under 10 minutes left in the game.
With the Devils net empty in the final minute of the game, Tyler Donati fed the puck ahead to Olivier Proulx at center ice. Proulx came into the offensive zone and sent the puck to the back of the net to seal the game for the Jackals at 19:20 of the third period, making it 2-0.
Ellis, who had four shutouts in three seasons with the Victoria Salmon Kings, made 60 saves on 62 shots on Saturday and Sunday to improve to 11-3-1-0 with the Jackals. Caruso fell to 8-14-1-1 on the season.
With the victory, the Jackals improved to 25-17-3-2, while the Devils record dropped to 17-22-4-5.
Elmira is unbeaten in regulation in eight games since the all-star break, tying its longest stretch of the season. The win gave the Jackals a five-point advantage over the Reading Royals for first place in the American East Division, and was the first for the Jackals in Trenton since they beat the Devils in game seven of the North Division Semifinals in last season's Kelly Cup Playoffs.
Elmira is at Wheeling on Friday and Saturday at 7:35 p.m., taking on the Nailers at WesBanco Arena.
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