Jackals Defeat Chiefs In Thriller At First Arena
December 20, 2009 - ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release
The Elmira Jackals defeated the Johnstown Chiefs in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon at First Arena in Elmira, NY, prevailing in a shootout 4-3 after the Chiefs tied the game late in the third period. Jackals captain Olivier Proulx had the shootout-winning goal for Elmira as the Jackals earned their fifth straight win over the Chiefs dating back to last season. Jarrett Konkle, playing against the Chiefs for the first time since being traded to the Jackals from Johnstown on Thursday, put the Jackals on the board early in the game. Chiefs goaltender Kris Mayotte was caught out of position and Konkle snuck out from behind the goal to feed the puck into the net to give the Jackals the 1-0 lead at 1:25 of the first period.
After a Mike Bartlett goal tied the game for Johnstown at 8:22 of the second period, Maxime Gratchev gave the Jackals the lead. At 14:02 of the second period, Gratchev beat Mayotte from the left circle to make it 2-1 in favor of Elmira. Justin Donati and Wes Cunningham received the assists on Gratchev's 10th goal of the season.
The Chiefs came back again, however, to even the score at 12:53 of the third period when Chris Zarb's wrist shot on the power play made its way through a screen to make it 2-2.
Elmira took a late lead and appeared to be on its way to a regulation victory. Olivier Proulx one-timed a feed from Tyler Donati home at 17:57 of the third period on the power play to give Elmira a 3-2 advantage. Justin Donati earned an assist on the goal as well, giving him an ECHL-leading 40 points on the season.
With Mayotte on the Chiefs bench for the extra attacker, the Chiefs sent the game to overtime when Chanse Fitzpatrick, traded from Elmira to Johnstown on Thursday, fired a puck past Jackals goaltender Julien Ellis with 4.1 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the game 3-3.
The team's skated through overtime and went to a shootout. In the fifth round, Proulx gave the Jackals the advantage with the go-ahead shootout goal and Ellis stopped Moises Gutierrez' bid to extend the shootout, and the Jackals won the game 4-3.
Ellis earned his first win as a member of the Jackals, improving to 1-1-0-0 with Elmira as he made 29 saves on 32 Chiefs shots. Mayotte took the shootout loss, making 28 saves on 31 Jackals attempts and falling to 5-7-2-2 on the season.
The Jackals improved to 12-12-2-2 in 2009-2010 while the Chiefs fell for the seventh-straight time, dropping their record to 8-14-3-3.
Elmira and Johnstown have gone to overtime in three consecutive games, with the Jackals taking two points each time.
Don't forget to purchase your Jackals Holiday Stimulus Package! On Saturday, Dec. 26, the Jackals host the Reading Royals at 7:35 p.m. For $44, fans will receive four tickets to the game, four sodas, four boxes of popcorn, four chuck-a-pucks, four skating sessions at the First Arena Recreational Rink, and four skate rentals. There are only 200 packages available, so get yours today. To purchase this package, call (607) 734-PUCK (7825) or visit the First Arena Box Office, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
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ECHL Stories from December 20, 2009
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