Elmira Jackals Weekly

Published on March 4, 2013 under ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release


ELMIRA, N.Y. - March 4, 2013 - For the second week in a row the Elmira Jackals earned at least one standings point in each of their four games, and climbed to new heights in the conference standings. Another four games await the Jackals this week with a pair on the road and a pair at home.

Last Week's Record: 3-0-1

Overall Record: 32-20-7, 71 pts., 2nd Place Atlantic Division, 4th Place Eastern Conference

Leaders:

Goals - Andrew Rowe: 22

Assists - Dustin Gazley*/Andrew Rowe: 35*/33

Points - Andrew Rowe: 55

+/- - Jordon Southorn: +23

PIMs - Kevin Harvey: 172

PPG - Andrew Rowe/Kyle Bushee: 5

SHG - Louie Caporusso*/Jean Bourbeau*/Jordan Pietrus: 3*/2

Wins - Maxime Clermont: 15

GAA - Ian Keserich: 2.35

SVP - Ian Keserich: .929

* Not on current roster

Previewing the Upcoming Week:

3/6 at Wheeling - 7:00 p.m., Home vs. WHL 4-1-0, Away vs. WHL 1-2-0

The last time the Elmira Jackals visited the Wheeling Nailers was on December 31, 2012. That night the Jackals closed out 2012, and a seven game road trip, with a 3-2 win on the strength of 43 saves by Maxime Clermont. Not many Jackals will be able to draw on the experience from that win because they weren't there. Of the 18 players that dressed for Elmira that night, nine of them are not currently with the team. Something will have to give in Wednesday's matchup because Wheeling is one of the toughest home teams in the league with a 19-6-5 record at WesBanco while Elmira has been lights out on the road with a 7-2-1 record over the last six weeks. Elmira has won three in a row over Wheeling by a combined score of 13-3.

3/7 at Trenton - 7:05 p.m., Home vs. TRE 3-2-0, Away vs. TRE 4-1-1

Elmira has made itself at home all season long in Trenton, including a pair of games two weeks ago. The Jackals picked up their third and fourth wins of the season in Trenton with a 4-1 triumph on February 18 and a 5-4 win in a shootout on February 22. With those wins, Elmira has more wins at the Sun National Bank Center than any other arena it has traveled to. The Jackals have been playing solid defense of late and have held opponents to an average of 2.4 goals per game over their last eight (5-0-3). They will be tasked with cooling off the league's hottest stick going right now. Steven Schultz is tied with several players for the fifth most goals in the league at 26. Thirteen of those goals have come in his last seven games.

3/9 vs. Orlando - 7:05 p.m., Home vs. ORL 1-0-0, Away vs. ORL 0-1-0

The Jackals have not been the most gracious hosts when welcoming teams from the South Division to First Arena. They are 4-1-0 at home against the South and have outscored opponents by a 15-8 total. The only game in which a southern team scored more than a goal against the Jackals at First Arena was South Carolina's 5-1 win on November 24. Orlando makes its second appearance in Elmira this Saturday looking for its first win here. The Jackals, meanwhile, will look to replicate their success from their 4-1 win over Orlando on December 14. Orlando has lost 19 games in regulation away from the Amway Center (8-19-1) which is the second highest total in the ECHL. Only Bakersfield (22) has lost more on the road.

3/10 vs. Reading - 4:05 p.m., Home vs. REA 4-2-1, Away vs. REA 2-3-1

The Jackals enter play this week nine points behind Reading for the Atlantic Division lead. There are three head-to-head meetings left with Reading, and the Jackals have one game in hand on their biggest rival. If the Jackals are to repeat as Atlantic Division champions, Sunday's showdown with Reading will be one of the biggest games left on the schedule. Elmira has won three in a row at home against the Royals and have not lost in regulation (3-0-1) to Reading at First Arena since December 8. The Royals have had a hard time slowing down Elmira's offense in the last three games here as the Jackals have averaged five goals per contest.

Jackals Broadcast Information

All Elmira Jackals broadcasts are carried on WEHH AM 1600 and FM 93.9. Fans can also access live streaming of the broadcast online on their computer, smartphone, or tablet at www.1600wehh.com. America One provides pay-per-view internet TV broadcasts of all Jackals games as well. Check out how you can watch the Jackals on America One by clicking here. All Jackals broadcasts begin 10 minutes prior to faceoff with "The Jackals Pre-Game Show."

Recapping Last Week:

2/27 vs. Wheeling: W 5-1

Elmira shook off a first period that saw the Jackals outshot 19-8, and fall behind 1-0 on a Zack Torquato goal. They rallied for a pair of goals in the second period and three in the third to skate away with their third win in a row over Wheeling. Jordon Southorn, Brandon Blandina, Matt Carter, and Chaz Johnson each finished the game with a goal and an assist.

3/1 at Greenville: SOL 3-4

Rob Bellamy provided some last-minute heroics to help the Jackals erase a one-goal deficit and force overtime. An extra-attacker goal by Bellamy with 18 seconds left in the game ensured the Jackals received one standings point in their first game in Greenville since April of 2011. After a scoreless overtime Greenville won an eight-round shootout 2-1 to claim the bonus point.

3/2 at Greenville: W 5-2

Elmira never trailed in its 5-2 win on Saturday night, but had to fend off a furious Greenville rally to claim the victory. Rob Bellamy and Andrew Rowe scored 2:23 apart early in the second to launch Elmira into the lead, but the Road Warriors scored two of their own 2:03 apart early in the third. Kevin Harvey broke the tie five minutes later with a power play goal and Elmira tacked on a pair of insurance markers for good measure.

3/3 at Greenville: W 3-2

Elmira scored first for the third straight game with Matt Carter doing the job just under six minutes into the game. Twice Greenville battled back to tie it, but the Jackals responded on each occasion. Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel netted his first power play goal of the season with 3:13 remaining to push the Jackals to the win. Ian Keserich made his third start in a row and won with 34 saves.

Quick Hits:

* Ian Keserich is 5-0-1 in his last six appearances. He has not lost in regulation since coming on in relief on January 18 vs. Trenton. Keserich was nominated for ECHL Goalie of the Week after going 2-0-1 with a 2.29 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage in Greenville this weekend.

* Elmira has been strong in weekday games this season. They have gone 10-2-1 in games played Monday through Thursday and have not lost on a weekday since Wednesday, December 19 in Trenton (5-4). That is a run of nine wins in a row.

* The Jackals wrap up a five game road swing with their games in Wheeling and Trenton this Wednesday and Thursday. After that they will not play back-to-back road games the rest of the month. The Jackals have gone 7-2-1 on the road since January 21 and their 15 road wins are third most in the Eastern Conference, fourth in the ECHL.

* Rob Bellamy is nominated for ECHL Player of the Week honors after posting six points (3G, 3A) in four games last week. Bellamy has been red hot with 17 points (9G, 8A) in his last 15 games. He has set a new high water mark for points in a season in North America with 35, but has a ways to go to catch the 54 points (22G, 32A) he netted in 2010-11 with Nottingham of the EIHL.

* The Jackals have the number one offense on the road in the ECHL with 104 goals. They have scored at least three goals in each of their last eight games away from First Arena (6-1-1). The only other team with more than 100 goals on the road is Idaho at 101.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



ECHL Stories from March 4, 2013


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central