Jackals Prove Clutch Again, Defeat Nailers 5-2

March 2, 2011 - ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Elmira, N.Y. - The Elmira Jackals (26-23-6-1) scored three times in the third period to snap a tie game and earn a 5-2 win over the Wheeling Nailers (29-25-0-3) on Wednesday night at First Arena. The Jackals have now won four-straight games for the first time this season and have won three-consecutive contests with tiebreaking goals in the third period.

Elmira had to overcome a 1-0 first-period deficit for the fourth-straight game when Paul Crowder tipped in an Alex Grant shot at 18:39 to give Wheeling a power-play goal.

Eric Lampe used his speed and stickhandling ability to backhand a puck in from the left-wing side past Nailers goaltender Patrick Killeen at 3:07 of the second period to tie the game, 1-1, on the man advantage.

Sebastien Bisallon knocked down a clear attempt by Jackals goaltender Marco Cousineau and fed Mikael Bedard who scored at 6:53 on the power play to give Wheeling the advantage once again, 2-1.

Billy Siers' first ECHL goal at 18:49 of the middle frame tied the game, 2-2, entering the third period. Dale Mahovsky's shot deflected off of Killeen's stick to Siers in the right circle, and Siers fired it past Killeen's glove for the tally.

Justin Donati, who had three points on the game to take sole possession of the league's scoring lead (21g-55a-76p), walked from behind the net and put a puck on goal that deflected past Killeen for Elmira's first lead of the game, 3-2, at 9:25 of the third. Siers created traffic in front that helped in getting Donati's bid past Killeen.

At 12:59 of the third, A.J. Perry redirected a Lampe shot past Killeen for his first goal since Feb. 4, giving Elmira a 4-2 advantage.

Donati secured his 21st tally with a late empty netter to give the Jackals the 5-2 win. He extended his point streak to five games (6g-5a) in the win as did Yannick Tifu, who did so with an assist on the final goal (5g-4a).

Cousineau earned his fourth-straight win for the first time in his career, improving to 17-11-4-0 with 33 saves on 35 shots. In Elmira's last two wins against Wheeling, Cousineau turned aside 56 of 59 Nailers attempts. Killeen dropped to 17-14-0-2 with 22 saves as the Nailers fell for the tenth-straight time.

The Jackals are now 4-0 under new head coach Robbie Nichols. The four-game winning streak is the first for the club since it won five in a row from Feb. 5 to 13 of last season. With the victory, Elmira jumped into a three-way tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with Gwinnett and Cincinnati.

Elmira travels to Greenville, S.C. to take on the Road Warriors on Saturday and Sunday.



ECHL Stories from March 2, 2011


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