Four Unanswered Goals Propel Jackals To Victory
November 21, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release
The Elmira Jackals staged a dramatic comeback victory Saturday night at First Arena, scoring four straight goals after trailing by two in the second period to beat the Wheeling Nailers 5-3 in front of 3,982 fans, the Jackals sixth sell-out crowd of the season.
Travis Gawryletz' drive from the left circle at 12:44 of the third period flew by Wheeling goaltender Adam Berkhoel for the Jackals fourth goal of the game. The tally proved to be Gawryletz' first career game-winning goal.
The Jackals started the scoring at 13:44 of the first period, when Tyler Donati fired home a shot on the power play for the goal, extending his league-leading scoring streak to 12 games. Yannick Tifu notched his first point as a Jackal on the play, picking up an assist. Keegan Dansereau had an assist as well on the Jackals' first goal.
However, the Nailers scored the next three goals, with two coming late in the first period. Mitch Ganzak had an unassisted goal at 16:41, while Jordan Fox scored with under six seconds remaining in the period to make it 2-1 in favor of the Nailers. Ganzak scored again at 3:27 of the second period to give the Nailers a 3-1 lead and a sizeable momentum advantage as well.
The Jackals, though, were relentless. Yannick Tifu's first goal as a Jackal came at 10:06 of the second period to bring the Jackals to within one, shooting a puck past Berkhoel from the left circle. Jean-Francois David made a nice play to keep the puck in the zone, and Maxime Gratchev, although not receiving an assist on the play, battled hard along the boards to free the puck to Chanse Fitzpatrick, who had the primary assist on the play.
Entering the third period down 3-2, the Jackals found help from their most frequent scorer of 2009-2010. Tyler Donati scored his ninth goal and ECHL-leading 30th point of the season to even the score at 5:09 of the final session. Brendan Connolly found Donati in the right circle who shot it stick side past Berkhoel to make it 3-3.
The Jackals then took advantage of a five-on-three power play. Yannick Tifu found Travis Gawryletz in the left circle, who one timed the puck past Berkhoel top shelf for his second goal of the season and first career game-winning goal. It gave the Jackals the 4-3 lead at 12:44, with an assist also credited to Fitzpatrick.
Olivier Proulx scored an insurance goal at 18:29 of the third period for his sixth of the season, putting the Jackals up 5-3 and sealing the victory. Tifu and Matt Lowry, assigned to the Jackals on Saturday by Binghamton (AHL), picked up the assists on the goal.
In goal for the Jackals, Chris Holt made 29 saves on 32 Wheeling shots for his fifth victory of the season, improving to 5-3-1-1. Berkhoel fell to 3-3-0-1, stopping 20 of 25 Jackals bids.
The Jackals improved to 9-4-2-1 with the win, while Wheeling fell to 5-8-1-1.
With six sell outs in eight home games, the Jackals have eclipsed their 2008-2009 mark of five sell outs, which tied for the ECHL lead.
Elmira hosts Wheeling on Friday, November 27 at 7:35 p.m. at First Arena. It's Teddy Bear Toss Night, and tickets are going fast. To reserve your seat, visit the First Arena Box Office, call (607) 734-PUCK (7825), or log onto Ticketmaster.com.
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