Jackals Take Two-of-Three On Road Trip

Published on November 13, 2006 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release


Week 5 Recap: The Jackals took their undefeated road record to Illinois in Week 5 as they went toe-to-toe with the Bloomington PrairieThunder for the first time in Franchise history. Friday night at U.S. Cellular Coliseum the Jackals scored two short-handed goals in the first period and Frank Littlejohn tallied Elmira's second hat trick of the season as the Jackals improved to 3-0-0 on the road with a 5-3 win. Saturday night was a different story. The expansion PrairieThunder came into the contest more focused and despite another strong outing by goaltender Kris Tebbs, Bloomington scored the goal-ahead goal early in the third period and Elmira lost their first road game of the season 4-3. Battling with fatigue, a six-hour overnight trip, an afternoon start and a time-zone change, the Jackals erupted for five goals over the final two periods to earn a 6-3 Sunday afternoon in Flint.

The Jackals continue their 5-game road trip Friday Novermber 17th as they bring their 2nd Place Eastern squad up against the 1st Place Western Conference Fort Wayne Komets at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Saturday the Jackals are back in Michigan as they face off with the Flint Generals at Perani's Arena.

Week 5 Game Results:

11/10/06 Elmira 5 @ Bloomington 3

Bloomington, IL - Frank Littlejohn scored three goals as the Elmira Jackals won their third road game of the season, beating the Bloomington PrairieThunder 5-3 Friday night at US Cellular Coliseum.

The Jackals continued to dominate opponents while they have men in the penalty box Friday night in their first every encounter with expansion Bloomington. Erik Anderson got the Jackals on the board at 6:07 of the first period, Elmira's 8th short-handed goal of the season, snapping a beautiful shot into the top shelf as he finished off a two-on-one rush with teammate Scott Wray. Frank Littlejohn made it 2-0 Jackals at 9:54, assisted by Brent Cullaton and Dale Lupul, which induced Bloomington head coach Derek Booth to pull starting goaltender Jeff Reynaert in favor for backup Steffan Braunlich. Newly acquired forward Alex Goupil put Bloomington on the board at 13:33, but Littlejohn answered to put Elmira back up by two goals. The feisty winger stole a pass at the red line, skated down the right wing and blasted a shot through Braunlich for his second of the game at 19:28, Elmira's second short-handed goal of the period, unassisted for a 3-1 lead.

In the second period the hosts again drew closer on a Mathieu Brunelle goal at 5:45, assisted by Goupil and Tyler Rennette. However, Littlejohn had another rebuttal up his sleeve. Erik Anderson found the Oshawa, Ontario native open in the slot and Littlejohn roofed a wrist shot over the glove of Braunlich at 15:15, completing his Hat Trick with a power play goal, assisted by Anderson and goaltender Kris Tebbs.

In the third period Bloomington made it interesting as Tyler Rennette scored at 7:02, assisted by Brunelle and Ryan Gillis, trimming the Jackals lead to 4-3. Bloomington upped the pressure, but Tebbs and the Jackals survive the home team's onslaught. Yevgeny Lazarev tallied an empty net goal at 19:32, assisted by Anderson, capping the game 5-3.

Goaltender Kris Tebbs earned his 5th win of the season in 6 starts, making 38 saves on 41 shots in goal for the Jackals. Bloomington starter Jeff Reynaert made just 2 saves on 4 shots, before being pulled after 9:54 of the first period. Steffan Braunlich was credited with the loss, stopping 24-of-26 shots faced. Elmira was 1-for-3 on the power play and scored 2 short-handed goals. Bloomington was 0-for-4 on the power play, which was Elmira's least number of power plays conceded this season.

11/11/06 Elmira 3 @ Bloomington 4

Bloomington, IL - The Elmira Jackals scored first Saturday night, but lost their first road game of the season to the Bloomington PrairieThunder 4-3 at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

Elmira wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as rookie goaltender Dale Lupul fired a wrist shot that deflected off the catching glove of goaltender Steffan Braunlich and into the net at 5:01, unassisted for a 1-0 lead. Bloomington came right back, tying the game on the power play, with a goal from Alex Goupil at 8:32 from Tyler Rennette and Jon Jankus. For the first time during the weekend series Bloomington took the lead over Elmira when Brad Thompson scored at 13:31, assisted by Jankus for a 2-1 edge. The home side extended their lead at 18:46, their second power play goal from Goupil, assisted by Jon Booras and Jeff Mushaluk for a 3-1 advantage. Throughout the first period Elmira created exceptional scoring chances, only to be denied by the phenomenal play of Braunlich in goal. Elmira out-shot the PrairieThunder 16-13 in the opening period.

In the second period the Jackals came out focused and quickly stopped the bleeding. Scott Wray blasted a shot past Braunlich at 4:17 of the 2nd period, assisted by Erik Anderson and Yevgeny Lazarev, cutting Bloomington's lead to 3-2. Less than two minutes later J.F. Soucy completed a fancy give-and-go with Tommy Kotsopoulos, tying the game at three.

In the final period, Jeff Mushaluk put Bloomington back in front 4-3 with a goal at 2:37 and that would be all the home team needed. The Jackals bombarded the net, but were denied by some excellent goaltending by Braunlich.

Steffan Braunlich earned the win, making 35 saves on 38 shots in goal for Bloomington. Kris Tebbs took the loss, while stopping 35-of-39 shots in the game for Elmira. Bloomington finished 2-for-6 on the power play, while the Jackals were 0-for-3.

11/12/06 Elmira 6 @ Flint 3

Flint, MI - Forwards Tommy Kotsopoulos and Brent Cullaton each scored two goals as the Elmira Jackals beat the Flint Generals 6-3 Sunday afternoon at Perani's Arena.

It took Flint a mere 3:39 of the first period to get on the scoreboard. While on a 5-on-3 power play, defenseman Shaun Fischer's slap shot from the blue line found the net for a 1-0 Flint lead, assisted by Gerard Miller and Bobby Reynolds. Elmira was hit with another blow in the final two minutes of the period when right wing Yevgeny Lazarev was given a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for Boarding on a check delivered on defenseman Tyson Turgeon.

Early in the second period, Tommy Kotsopoulos opened his goal scoring account, with a short-handed goal at 1:13, assisted by captain Brent Cullaton. But with the penalty to Lazarev carrying over from the first period, Flint cashed in with their second power play goal of the game, scored by Terry Marchant at 2:38, assisted by Fischer and Jeff Zehr. Four minutes later Curtis Tidball dropped the gloves and Flint defenseman Martin Ondrej and his one-sided performance seemed to energize his team. Elmira tied the game at two when David Morelli stole a break-out pass and fired a back-hand shot through the legs of goaltender Jason Muzzatti at 12:59 for an unassisted goal. As the face off at center-ice was dropped, so did the gloves of Frank Littlejohn and Flint's David Frawley, ending in another Elmira fisticuffs win. 19 seconds later Kostopoulos scored his second of the game, assisted by Brent Cullaton and Dale Lupul at 13:18, giving Elmira their first lead of the game 3-2.

97 seconds into the third period Jason Selleke leveled the game again, scoring from Ondrej and Mike Zbriger, to tie the game 3-3. But then the Jackals captain took the game in his own hands. Cullaton was sent free on a breakaway from a crafty long pass from Kostopoulos and the captain lifted a back-hand shot at 5:20 over the glove of Bryan Worosz, who replaced Muzzatti in the Flint goal at the start of the third period. Then Cullaton scored an insurance goal, on the power play at 7:49, assisted by Kostopoulos and J.F. Soucy, giving Elmira a 5-3 lead. With 2:45 left in the game, Flint's head coach Kevin Kerr called a timeout and pulled his goalie in a late attempt to get back into the game. Jackals defenseman Dale Lupul put an end to Flint's hopes, firing a shot from behind his own goal line almost 200-feet down the ice and into the empty net for an unassisted goal at 18:21 and a 6-3 final score.

Kris Tebbs improved to 6-2-0 in 9 games played this season as he made a massive 43 saves on 46 shots for Elmira. Bryan Worosz was credited with the loss, stopping 9-of-11 while playing the third period for Flint. Flint starter Jason Muzzatti blocked 13-of-16 shots in a no-decision after playing the first 40 minutes of the game. The Jackals finished 1-for-6 on the power play and added their UHL-leading 10th short-handed goal of the season, while Flint was 2-for-10 on the power play.

Jackals Player & Goaltender of the Week: (Week 5)

Tommy Kotsopoulos - C 3 GP, 2 goals, 4 assists, 6 points, +2, 2 PIMs

Forward Tommy Kotsopoulos had a break out weekend on the road for the Jackals. He tallied his first points of the season Saturday night with two assists against the Bloomington PrairieThunder, then had a 4-point game against Flint on Sunday afternoon. Sunday Kotsopoulos scored twice, his first two goals of the season including the Jackals' 10th short-handed goal of the season, and added two assists in a 6-3 win over the Generals.

Kris Tebbs - G 3 GP, 2-1-0, 3.35 GAA, 0.921 SV%, 116 saves

Jackals goaltender Kris Tebbs was an iron man for his team this weekend. With an injury sidelining goalie Shawn Degagne, Tebbs stepped up and shined in all three games of the weekend. He faced 126 shots in three games, with a six-hour bus trip and a 1-hour time change between Saturday's loss and Sunday's win in Flint. Tebbs finished the week with 2 wins, a 3.35 GAA and a 0.921 save percentage. He has been fantastic for Elmira this year, winning six of his eight starts on the young season.

JACKAL BITES:

. LEAGUE LEADING - The Jackals scored three more short-handed goals this week and they currently lead the UHL with 10 short-handed goals scored as a team this season.

. HAT TRICK TAKE TWO - RW Frank Littlejohn scored a hat trick Friday night in Bloomington, scoring a power play goal, a short-handed goal and an even-strength goal in the game. It was the Jackals 2nd hat trick of the season; Yevgeny Lazarev scored three goals on October 27th against Flint.

. A NEW ACCOUNT - Center Tommy Kotsopoulos scored his first points and first goals as a Jackal this weekend. Kotsopoulos had two assists Saturday in Bloomington, then Sunday he scored his first two goals of the season and added two more assists in Flint. He has 6 points in the last two games, after being held scoreless in his first three games with Elmira.

. CAPTAIN RING THE BELL - Jackals Captain Brent Cullaton had another strong finish to the weekend for the Jackals. After being held to just 1 assist during the two game series in Bloomington, Cullaton rebounded with a 4-point game in Flint, scoring two goals, including a breakaway goal which was the game-winner, and added two assists in the Jackals 6-3 win Sunday.

. EAST VERSUS WEST - The Jackals two-game series in Bloomington was not only the first two games against the expansion PrairieThunder in franchise history, it was also Elmira's first games against a Western Conference opponent. The Jackals split the two-game set and will next face the West's top team, Fort Wayne next Friday night.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Elmira Jackals Team Leaders:

Goals: Frank Littlejohn (7)

Assists: Scott Wray, Dale Lupul (8)

Points: Scott Wray (14)

Plus/Minus: Dale Lupul (+11)

Penalty Minutes: Curtis Tidball (109)

Power Play Goals: Scott Wray, Frank Littlejohn (3)

Short Handed Goals: Frank Littlejohn (3)

Game Winning Goals: David Morelli (2)

Shots: Scott Wray (56)

Shooting Percentage: Brent Cullaton (26.7%)

Saves: Kris Tebbs (299)

Wins: Kris Tebbs (6)

GAA: Shawn Degagne (3.25)

Save Percentage: Kris Tebbs (0.917)

Eastern Conference Standings:

EASTERN GP W L SOP PTS PCT.

Muskegon 13 12 1 0 24 0.923

Kalamazoo 10 8 2 0 16 0.800

Elmira 12 8 4 0 16 0.667

Port Huron 14 3 9 2 8 0.286

Flint 12 2 8 2 6 0.250

Coach's Show

Don't miss the next broadcast of The Elmira Jackals Coach's Show LIVE Monday night at 6 pm at the Pioneer Sports Bar & Grill in Elmira. Join Jackals Head Coach Kris Waltze, Voice of the Jackals Owen Newkirk, along with forwards Tommy Kotsopoulos and David Morelli for the broadcast on News Talk 1230 & 1450 AM WENY or stream it online at www.jackalshockey.com - Fans are encouraged to email their questions for any of the Coach's Show participants to jackalsinfo@jackalshockey.com no later than 3 pm on Monday before the show or they can come to the Pioneer and ask their questions on the air with Route 81 Radio's new wireless microphone feature.

First Arena Rec Rink Hockey Information

The ice is HOT at First Arena - Visit our website for a complete list of Public Skating times and Arena Programs at www.firstarena.com - Come in to the COOL place to be!

The First Arena Rec Rink offers public skating, skating lessons, hockey programs, figure skating, birthday parties, adult hockey leagues and much more....

2006-07 Record: 8-4-0, 16 points (4-3-0 Home, 4-1-0 Road), Second Place, Eastern Conference

Week 6 Schedule: (All games are broadcasted LIVE on MAGIC 92.7 & 97.7 FM)

Friday, November 17 8:00 pm @ Fort Wayne Komets (8-2-0, 16 pts) First Place, Western Conference

Saturday, November 18 7:30 pm @ Flint Generals (2-8-2, 6 pts) Fifth Place, Eastern Conference

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from November 13, 2006


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