Paolini's Buzzer Beater Stuns Kalamazoo
Published on March 21, 2006 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Elmira Jackals News Release
Week 22 Game Results:
3/15/06 Richmond 5 @ Elmira 2
Elmira, NY - The Richmond Riverdogs scored four power play goals as they beat the Elmira Jackals 5-2 Wednesday night at the First Arena.
After a scoreless first period where Elmira goaltender Tyson Gajda and Richmond goalie Mike D'Alessandro put on a shot-stopping show, Richmond would blast their way into the lead in the second period. They scored three straight power play goals in the middle frame; Dan Vandermeer at 4:54, Todd Grant at 16:27 and Brian Goudie at 19:28, giving the Riverdogs a 3-0 lead. But rookie Jarrett Konkle put Elmira on the board in the closing seconds. Konkle scored with 3.4 seconds remaining on the clock to cut the lead to 3-1, assisted by Flo Iberer and Trevor Burgess. The goal was Konkle's team-leading 28th of the season.
In the third period, Richmond's Cody Doucette put Richmond up 4-1 at 2:23 when he tipped a shot from the point past Gajda for the Riverdogs' only even strength goal of the game. 29 second later Sam Paolini scored his 14th goal of the season to cut the deficit back to two goals; Iberer and Anthony Blumer assisted Paolini's goal. But Richmond scored once more to put the game out of reach. Evgeny Lazarev scored at 13:49, the Riverdogs' 4th power play goal, for a 5-2 final score.
Mike D'Alessandro stopped 34-of-36 in goal for the Riverdogs, while Tyson Gajda made 31 saves on 36 Richmond shots. Richmond was 4-for-6 on the power play, Elmira was 0-for-3.
3/17/06 Elmira 3 @ Kalamazoo 2
Kalamazoo, MI - The Elmira Jackals got a 38-save performance from goalie Tyson Gajda and forward Sam Paolini scored the game winning in the final second of regulation to propel Elmira to a 3-2 win over the Kalamazoo Wings Friday night at Wings Stadium.
Kicking off the game with green ice and a green-clad home team, the Jackals silenced a sold-out crowd by striking gold on their first power play of the night. Jarrett Konkle received a great pass from Jason Sessa and the team's goals leader blasted a one-timer from the hash marks past goaltender Joel Martin at 3:18; Sessa and defenseman Bobby Gates assisted on the power play goal. But Kalamazoo would not lie dormant for long. Damian Surma found space in front of the Elmira net and roofed a wrist shot at 6:44 to tie the game. The K-Wings out-shot the Jackals 15-6 in the opening period.
Elmira again pulled ahead early in the second period when Gates sent a long pass from his own blue line, releasing Chris Chaput on a breakaway. Chaput collected the pass, faked a shot, pulled the puck to his backhand and beat Martin with a great move for a 2-1 lead at 7:29. The assist was Gates' second of the game and 7th of the season. Elmira again withstood a late barrage to maintain the lead going into the intermission.
The Jackals were called for three-straight minor penalties, from the last minutes of the 2nd period into the early part of the third. Elmira managed to kill off the first two, but with a mere 3 seconds remaining on Chris Chaput's holding penalty, Daniel Carriere's slap shot from the blue line ricocheted off the dislodged helmet of Kory Karlander and past Tyson Gajda for a power play goal at 10:58. The helmet was sitting on the ice, near the side of the crease, having been knocked off of Karlander's head earlier in the power play. But the fortunate bounces were not solely in Kalamazoo's corner. With only a few seconds remaining in the game, and a shootout almost guaranteed, Chris Chaput chipped a puck past two K-Wings out to center ice. Anthony Blumer was rushing up the ice, but had to reach back to get the puck behind him. With his momentum slowed, Blumer had only one option and that was to pass the puck along the red line to Sam Paolini. Paolini was streaking up the right wing, but had the puck caught in his skates. He managed to corral the biscuit and gain the zone with only 4 seconds remaining. Paolini then unleashed a desperations shot from two steps inside the blue line. His slap shot was heading 4-feet wide of the far side of the net, when all of a sudden, it hit Kalamazoo's Lucas Drake in the shin pad and redirected right though the legs of goalie Joel Martin and into the net with 0.4 seconds on the clock. The buzzer-beating goal stunned the crowd of 5,413 screaming fans expecting a shootout and sent the Jackals into a frenzied celebration.
Tyson Gajda was outstanding in goal for the Jackals, stopping 38-of-40 shots in the game for his 3rd win of the season. He threw in some impossible saves during his stellar performance. Joel Martin took the loss in goal for Kalamazoo; making 17 saves on 20 Elmira shots. The Jackals were 1-for-3 on the power play, while the K-Wings were 1-for-4.
3/18/06 Elmira 1 @ Motor City 4
Fraser, MI - The Elmira Jackals lost an early lead and fell to the Motor City Mechanics 4-1 Saturday night at Great Lakes Arena.
Fresh off they're stunning final-second win over Kalamazoo on St. Patrick's Day, the Jackals came out and dominated the Mechanics in the opening period. They peppered Motor City's goaltender Rod Branch, out-shooting their hosts 14-3 after twenty minutes, but they had nothing to show for their efforts as the period ended 0-0. Jackals starting goaltender Tyson Gajda, who was sensational Friday night in Kalamazoo, was forced to leave at 9:25 with an injury, so backup goalie Matt Meacham came in, making his first appearance in a Jackals' uniform. Meacham faced just one shot in the final 11 minutes.
Motor City responded early in the second period by turning up their offensive pressure. The Mechanics pounded 17 shots on Meacham, who did not seem phased by coming off the bench. The Jackals struck first in the 2nd period, Konstantin Kalmikov slotted home a rebound from a Jason Sessa slap shot at 10:47. The goal, assisted by Sessa and Jarrett Konkle was Kalmikov's 24th of the season, 19th since being traded from Motor City to Elmira. But the Mechanics were not to be out-done by their former teammate. 40 seconds later Peter Szabo blasted a slap shot off the inside of the post to tie the game at 11:27.
In the third period Tom Kotsopoulos broke the tie for the Mechanics with a goal at 6:40 to give Motor City their first lead of the game 2-1. Adam Edinger double the home team's lead at 13:47 on a spin-around shot from the slot. The Jackals pulled Meacham with a minute to play, but Mike Burgoyne put in an empty net goal to cap off the 4-1 Motor City victory. The Mechanics out-shot the Jackals 32-16 over the final two periods of play.
Rod Branch earned his 32nd win of the season, stopping 29-of-30 shots in goal for Motor City. Matt Meacham took the loss in his first appearance for the Jackals, making 29 saves on 32 shots. Tyson Gajda started the game and made two saves on two shots before being forced out with an injury.
Jackals Player & Goaltender of the Week: (Week 22)
Sam Paolini - LW 3 GP, 2 goals, 0 assists, 2 points, +1, 2 PIMs
Alternate Captain Sam Paolini had a very clutch week for the Jackals. He started things off with a goal against Richmond Wednesday night, then scored the biggest goal of the weekend, the game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds remaining in the third period to beat Kalamazoo 3-2. For the season, Paolini has 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 41 games played; he has played 14 games with Rochester on AHL call-up.
Tyson Gajda - G 3 GP, 1-1-0, 3.25 GAA, 0.910 SV%, 71 saves
Rookie goaltender Tyson Gajda earned 3rd win of the season during another solid week in between the pipes for Elmira. Gajda began week 22 with 31 saves in a 5-2 loss to Richmond; the Riverdogs scored 4 power play goals in the game. Friday night in Kalamazoo, Gajda posted his best performance of the season, making some out-of-this-world saves and stopping 38-of-40 shots to beat the K-Wings 3-2 on their special Green-Ice night. His start Saturday in Motor City was cut short as he was forced to leave the game after nine minutes due to injury. On the week, Gajda had a 3.25 GAA and a 0.910 save percentage.
JACKAL BITES:
- NARROW VICTORY - LW Sam Paolini's last second shot deflected into the net with only 0.4 seconds left of the game clock, lifting the Jackals to a 3-2 win over Kalamazoo Friday night. The goal rivals Jamie Thompson's series-winning goal as time expired against Richmond in the 2003-04 playoffs.
- FIRST APPEARANCE - G Matt Meacham saw his first action since joining the Jackals this past week. Meacham was called in to relieve injured start Tyson Gajda just 9 minutes into Saturday's game in Motor City. Meacham did an admirable job, stopping 29-of-32 shots in the 4-1 loss.
- HOME SWEET HOME??? - It has been a while since the Jackals have earned a victory in the own building. Elmira is 0-6-1 in their last seven games at the First Arena. Their last win at home came on February 14th, a 4-3 shootout win over Roanoke. The Jackals last win in regulation in Elmira came on January 21st, a 4-3 win over Missouri.
- DIFFERENCE IN KILLING - The Jackals are ranked last (14th) in the UHL in home penalty killing (78.2%), however, they rank fourth in penalty killing on the road (83.3%).
- MAGIC NUMBER IS FIVE - With Roanoke, Missouri and Port Huron being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this past week, the attention now turns to the Jackals, Richmond and Flint, the three teams left on the outside looking in. With 12 games remaining, the Jackals can potentially reach as high as 77 points (currently 53), but they will be bounced from the post season if the combination of Jackals' losses and Quad City's wins add up to five.
- STILL THE ONE - D Chris Mann is still riding on top of the UHL lead in minor penalties (79). The rookie is also 2nd overall in the league in penalty minutes with 313, 20 minutes behind Rockford's Robin Big Snake.
NEWS AND NOTES:
Elmira Jackals Team Leaders:
Goals: Jarrett Konkle (29)
Assists: Trevor Burgess (37)
Points: Chris Chaput (58)
Plus/Minus: Anthony Blumer (+1)
Penalty Minutes: Chris Mann (313)
Power Play Goals: Jarrett Konkle (14)
Short Handed Goals: Jarrett Konkle (2)
Game Winning Goals: Kevin Cooper (3)
Shots: Kevin Cooper (199)
Shooting Percentage: Jarrett Konkle (14.9%)
Saves: Tyson Gajda (220)
Wins: Tyson Gajda (3)
GAA: Tyson Gajda (3.52)
Save Percentage: Matt Meacham (0.906)
Eastern Division Standings:
EASTERN GP W L SOP PTS PCT.
Danbury 65 39 15 11 89 .685
Adirondack 61 37 19 5 79 .648
Richmond 61 30 25 6 66 .541
Elmira 64 23 34 7 53 .414
Roanoke 62 15 41 6 36 .290
Coach's Show
Don't miss The Elmira Jackals Coach's Show LIVE Tuesday night at 7pm. Listen to Head Coach Perry Florio, the Voice of the Jackals Owen Newkirk, along with two Jackals players for the broadcast on Wheels AM 820 WWLZ 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 Tuesday before the show.
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, and much more....
2005-06 Record: 23-34-7, 53 points (9-19-3 home, 14-15-4 road), Fourth Place, Eastern Division
Week 23 Schedule: (All games are broadcasted LIVE on Wheels AM-820 WWLZ)
Friday, March 24 7:05 pm @ Adirondack Frostbite (37-19-5, 79 pts) Second Place, Eastern Division
Saturday, March 25 7:30 pm @ Roanoke Valley Vipers (15-41-6, 36 pts) Fifth Place, Eastern Division
Sunday, March 26 5:00 pm @ Roanoke Valley Vipers (15-41-6, 36 pts) Fifth Place, Eastern Division
International Hockey League 2 Stories from March 21, 2006
- Johnson loaned to Admirals - Rockford IceHogs
- Wings Stadium is the cool place to be this summer - Kalamazoo Wings
- Kids are the big winners - Kalamazoo Wings
- Frostbite, UHL to Receive National Attention - Adirondack Frostbite
- Paolini's Buzzer Beater Stuns Kalamazoo - Elmira Jackals
- Komets Improve To 34-23-4 After 22 Weeks - Fort Wayne Komets
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