Jakaitis Sets ECHL Record as Stingrays Win 20th Straight

Published on March 20, 2015 under ECHL (ECHL) News Release

PRINCETON, N.J. - Goaltender Jeff Jakaitis and the South Carolina Stingrays continued to make history on Friday with a 4-0 win over the Indy Fuel at the North Charleston Coliseum.

The shutout was Jakaitis' fourth in a row, setting a new ECHL record, and it extended his league-record shutout streak to 319:32. Jakaitis, who leads the ECHL this season with six shutouts, has not allowed a goal since 3:01 into the first period of a 5-1 win against Gwinnett on March 6. The 31-year-old now has 22 career shutouts, which is just three behind ECHL all-time leader Marc Magliarditi.

Jakaitis' shutout streak is the second-longest in professional hockey history, trailing only Brian Boucher, who had a streak of 332:01 with the National Hockey League's Phoenix Coyotes in the 2003-04 season. The American Hockey League record was set by Matt Murray of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins earlier this month at 304:11.

South Carolina extended its ECHL record winning streak to 20 games, becoming just the second team in professional hockey history to win at least 20 games in a row, joining the American Hockey League's Norfolk Admirals, who won their final 28 games of the 2011-12 regular season on their way to capturing that year's Calder Cup title.

Jakaitis won his 12th consecutive game, moving into a tie for second all-time in league history with Knoxville's Cory Cadden, who had a 12-game winning streak during the 1993-94 season. Roanoke's Daniel Berthiaume holds the all-time record with a 13-game winning streak in 1994-95.

The Stingrays began their streak with a 7-1 win at Greenville on Feb. 7. South Carolina had been just 1-7-2 in the 10 games leading up to the first win of the streak, and was 18-18-7 on the season, sitting in sixth place in the East Division and 10 points out of a playoff spot.

Thanks to the winning streak, the Stingrays have improved their overall record to 38-18-7, and with 83 points, they are just five points behind division-leading Florida, pending the result of the Everblades' game at Evansville on Friday.

South Carolina has outscored its opponents 86-25 during the streak, and has won 19 of the 20 games in regulation. The Stingrays have allowed two goals or less 16 times during the streak, and have shutout their opponents six times.

The Stingrays are back in action on Saturday, hosting Cincinnati at 7:05 p.m. ET.

ECHL Stories from March 20, 2015

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