Jackals Stumble Late, Prevail In Shootout 5-4
Published on December 6, 2007 under ECHL (ECHL)
Elmira Jackals News Release
The Elmira Jackals coughed up 3-1 and 4-2 third period leads, but managed to slip past the Trenton Devils 5-4 in a shootout Wednesday night in front of 3,576 fans at First Arena. The win was the club's fourth straight on home ice and allowed the Jackals to keep pace with Cincinnati atop the North Division.
Frank Littlejohn got the Jackals rolling with his seventh and eighth goals of the season to stake the Jackals to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
His first came just eighty-nine seconds into the game as he angled in from the left circle and snapped off a wrister past the arm of Devils goaltender Jason Smith (32 saves).
The Jackals captain doubled that lead with a power play strike six and a half minutes just off the edge of the right circle as he fired a quick shot of a Bobby Robins set-up at 8:07.
Elmira enjoyed its biggest lead of the game when Benoit Doucet found the back of the net for the first time in thirteen games at 6:04 of the middle period.
Doucet broke in from the right wing and used teammate Scott May as a screen to rub off of a defenseman. Cutting to the slot, Doucet found himself in alone on Smith and fired. Smith got a piece of the shot, but not enough to keep it out and Doucet picked up his third of the season.
Trenton came back on a power play goal at 11:01 from Matt Rogers, but the Devils found themselves down by a pair heading into the final period.
Eric Castonguay pulled the visitors to within 3-2 3:39 into the third when a weak defensive effort allowed him to circle a shot around a Jackals blueliner and over Joel Martin's (21 saves) glove hand for his team-leading eighth of the season.
Elmira counter punched as Chaz Johnson scored his fourth of the year off a beautiful feed from Doucet behind the Devils net at 10:13, but Trenton wouldn't go quietly.
Martin was the victim of a seam in the dasher board that redirected a dump-in away from and set up and easy tally for Tony Zancanaro 1:09 later to make it 4-3.
Jim Henkel capped the rally and sent the contest to overtime when he scored from the right circle with fifty-six seconds left in regulation.
Rare coincidental penalties at the end of the third period to Littlejohn and Jason Paige saw the first two minutes overtime played three-on-three. In the overtime, the Jackals outshot the Devils 4-1 (37-25 overall), but this would go to the shootout to determine who would get the extra point.
Elmira dominated after Doucet was stopped in the first round as the Jackals ripped off three consecutive goals thereafter (Scott May, Pierre-Luc Faubert and Littlejohn) while Martin stopped all three Devils attempts.
The win was Elmira's fourth consecutive in the five shootouts they've participated in and kept them tied with Cincinnati atop the North Division, both with 29 points. The Cyclones defeated Dayton 4-2 Wednesday. Elmira travels to Cincinnati for games Friday and Saturday with face-off both nights at 7:30 p.m. Radio coverage of both contests begins with the Hill Top Inn Countdown to Face-Off at 7 p.m. on MAGIC FM (92.7/97.7).
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- Jackals Stumble Late, Prevail In Shootout 5-4 - Elmira Jackals
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