News release
17 January 2005
Jackals End Rough West Trip With Big Win
2004-05 RECORD: 18-22-5, 41 points (13-11-1 home, 5-11-4 road), Tied-Third Place, Eastern Division
January 19 7:35 pm @ Richmond Riverdogs (19-20-3, 41 pts) Tied-Third Place, Eastern Division
January 21 7:30 pm vs. Kalamazoo Wings (24-14-3, 51 pts) Second Place, Central Division
January 22 7:30 pm vs. Danbury Trashers (27-13-2, 56 pts) First Place, Eastern Division
Glens Falls, NY Sparked by three straight 2nd period goals, the Adirondack Frostbite held off the Elmira Jackals 4-3 Wednesday night.
In front of a light but boisterous crowd in Glens Falls the Frostbite Jumped out to an early lead when Frank Bakrlik found himself all along in front of the goal and beat Greg Hewitt for a 1-0 lead at 9:05. Elmira struck back at 15:21 when Corey Fosters outlet pass sent Carl Drakensjo streaking on a short-handed two-on-one with Nathan Gillies. Drakensjo slid the puck neatly across to Gillies who tapped in the puck on the back post for his first short-handed goal of the year.
The second period 3-goal explosion by the Frostbite turned out to be the difference in this game. First Ryan Bennett regained the lead 2-1 with his 3rd short-handed goal of the season at 3:46. Then Hugo Belanger ripped home a power play goal at 14:33. Ninety seconds later with a delayed penalty pending of the Jackals, Adirondack got goaltender Derek Gustafson to the bench for the extra attacker, worked the puck around the zone, then found Sylvain Cloutier wide open in the slot and he buried his chance over Hewitts catching glove for a 4-1 lead at 16:11. Elmira made a game out of the situation scoring twice in a span of 35 seconds to get back within one goal after two periods. Captain Trevor Burgess blasted a slap shot from the point that redirected off the side of Bennett and into the net, assisted by Greg Koehler at 18:14 to make it 4-2. Half a minute later Foster sent a sizzling wrist shot past Gustafson, assisted by Jeff Antonovich and Darren Van Oene for a 4-3 score.
In the third period both teams had chances to light the lamp. Elmiras best opportunity to equalize came on a Carl Drakensjo penalty shot which was narrowly denied by Gustafsons right leg pad.
Goaltender Derek Gustafson stopped 20-of-23 for the win, while Greg Hewitt turned aside 33-of-37 shots in the loss for Elmira.
Kalamazoo, MI The Kalamazoo Wings fought back from a 1-0 deficit to beat the Elmira Jackals 4-1 Friday night at Wings Stadium.
Jason Sessa one-timed a pass from Eddy Lowe past Wings goalie Chad Alban to grab the lead at 13:48 of the first period, also assisted by Derek Campbell. But for the second straight time in Kalamazoo, Elmira scored first but could not get any points.
The K-Wings struck back with a second period power play goal from Tim Krueckl at 9:29, assisted by Daniel Carriere and Yannick Carpentier, that tied the game at one. The end of the second period was marred by a full-two-team melee that saw only one fight, Nathan Gillies dismantled the must taller Wings forward Tom Ditzer, and Derek Campbell received a game misconduct for slashing Alban, which started the altercation.
Kalamazoos work ethic and determination was unmatched in the third period as they wore down the Jackals with relentless checking and pressure. The Wings took their first lead when Sean Starke scored on a second effort poke-in at 13:03 of the final period, which would turn out to be the eventual game winner. Late in the game Elmira pulled Greg Hewitt in efforts to find an equalizer, but instead Krueckl scored an empty net goal, his second of the game at 19:01. Then with Hewitt back in the net, Kalamazoo added insult to injury as Andrew Luciuk snapped a wrister through the five-hole to beat Hewitt 19 seconds later to give the Wings a 4-1 win. Kalamazoo scored on each of their last two shots of the game, after scoring twice on their first 40 attempts on goal.
Alban made 23 saves on 24 shots in regulation for the win, while Hewitt stopped an incredible 38-of-40 in the loss.
Moline, IL The Quad City Mallards scored two early goals and held on for a 4-2 win Saturday night at the Mark on the banks of the mighty Mississippi.
In their first and only trip to Moline this season, the Jackals gave up two goals in the first eight minutes of the game and would not be able to recover. Mallards leading scorer Mike Kompon got the ducks on the board at 4:14 when his centering pass redirected off the chest of defenseman Alex Andreyev and past a helpless Greg Hewitt for a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later the lead was two courtesy of a Justin Brown goal that passed through a three-player screen on its way to the twine. Elmira stole back from momentum just before the break when Jamie Thompson stole the puck and performed a vintage J.T. move by out-skating every opponent and tipping a back-hand past Robert Gherson at 19:21 for an unassisted goal.
The Jackals used that spark to begin out-playing Quad City, but their efforts didnt yield goals in the second period, including their second failed 5-on-3 advantage of the game. Instead Patrick Nadeau scored just as Tom Claytons minor penalty expired at 7:18 for a 3-1 Mallards lead after two.
Elmiras relentless pressure continued into the third period, and things finally started going the Jackals way. Darren Van Oene cut the lead back to one goal with a wrap-around tally at 5:09 assisted by George Pujacs. Elmira continued their attack on Gherson who was magnificent in goal, but the pressure almost boiled over, forcing Quad City head coach Paul Gillis to use his time out with four minutes remaining in efforts to calm down his shaken team. The ploy worked and with 13 seconds left on the clock and the Jackals net empty, Jason Deskins sealed the win for a 4-2 final score.
Gherson earned the win by turning away 35-of-37 for the win, while Hewitt made 33 saves on 36 Quad City shots, but again didnt have the goal support as he took the loss.
1/16/05 JACKALS 4 Fort Wayne 3 (2-1 in Shootout)
Fort Wayne, IN The Elmira Jackals scored three times in the first period on their way to a 4-3 shootout victory over the Fort Wayne Komets Sunday to close out the weekend.
Carl Drakensjo scored two first period goals and added the decisive shootout goal to help the Jackals pull two points out of an otherwise unsuccessful western road trip that included losses to Kalamazoo and Quad City. Drakensjo opened the game with a goal at 5:41 as he buried a sizzling wrist shot past Kevin St. Pierre from the high slot, assisted by Jamie Thompson and Simon Poirier. Greg Koehler gave Elmira a two goal cushion with a power play strike at 13:08 as the Jackals leading scorer batted a puck at waist-height out of the air and into the back of the net; Jeff Antonovich and Trevor Burgess assisted on the goal. 90 seconds later Fort Wayne managed to muster their first quality scoring chance and it cut into the lead. Sean Venedam made it 2-1 at 14:34 as he snuck behind both defensemen to gobble up a rebound and beat rookie Kevin Kurk for a power play goal. But Drakensjo was not done. The Enebyberg, Sweden native scored his eighth goal of the season, and second of the game, at 18:44 as he took a pass from Alex Andreyev and slipped the puck around St. Pierre from the top of the crease
Elmira continued its domination of the Komets defensemen in the second period, but despited out-shooting Fort Wayne 9-7 in the period, the home team would cash in. Colin Chaulk scored the only goal of the middle twenty minutes at 6:46, assisted by Danny Stewart and Troy Neumeier.
After an awful opening period and a shaky second session, the Komets began to exhibit their my accustomed form in the third period. Fort Wayne out-shot the Jackals 12-7 in the third and got the equalizer at 3:36 when Steve Rodberg blasted a shot from the point through a screen and past Kurk to level at three.
In the shootout, Jason Sessa scored a clinical goal in the first round to give Elmira the lead, but Rodberg again left his mark, tying the shootout in round three. Back and forth the shooters would go but both Kurk and St. Pierre put on a goalkeeping display. In the 9th round Drakensjo fittingly snapped a wrister past St. Pierre for the third time on the night, lifting Elmira to a 2-1 lead. The lead would hold when Kurk stoned Danny Stewart to give the Jackals the badly needed two points.
Rookie goalie Kevin Kurk earned his 4th win of the season while stopping 28-of-31 in net and then turning aside 8-of-9 shootout attempts in one of his best performances of the season. Kevin St. Pierre took the shootout loss for the Komets, making 25 saves on 28 shots, and then blocking 7-of-9 in the shootout.
JACKALS PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: (WEEK 14)
Carl Drakensjo- C 4 GP, 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 pts, +1, 6 PIMs
Swedish forward Carl Drakensjo provided some bright spots in a difficult road trip week for the Elmira Jackals. Drakensjo began the week with an assist Wednesday in a 4-3 loss to Adirondack, then finished the week with two goals and the decisive shootout goal in the sudden-death 9th round in a 4-3 win over Fort Wayne on Sunday. In 4 games Drak had 3 points and was +1 while Elmira was out-scored 15-10. The Enebyberg, Sweden native is 6th on the team in scoring with 26 points (8 goals, 18 assists) and ranks 7th on the Jackals All-Time Scoring Chart.
Kevin Kurk G 1 GP, 1-0-0, 2.77 GAA, 0.903 SV%, 28 saves
Rookie Kevin Kurk again has accomplished the difficult task asked of him; perform like a seasoned veteran goaltender without playing regularly. Kurk, who has only started 3 times in the last 30 days, held off the powerful Fort Wayne Komets offense Sunday in Indiana by turning aside 28-of-31 shots and stopping 8-of-9 in the shootout to earn his 4th win of the season. In 9 appearances this season, Kurk has a 4-2-0 record and is a perfect 2-0 in shootouts in his career, stopping 12-of-14 attempts this year.
OPENING A NEW CAN Rookie forward Derek Campbell passed fellow rookie Chris Shaw to take over the Jackals team lead in penalty minutes this week. Campbell has 136 minutes which is 2nd in the UHL in rookie penalty minutes and he leads the first years with 23 minors.
PITCHED A ONE-HITTER G Kevin Kurk stopped 8-of-9 attempts in his shootout win over Fort Wayne on Sunday. Kurk has stopped 12-of-14 this season in two shootouts to put him 2nd in the UHL in shootout percentage (0.857).
ROAD WARRIOR LW Jamie Thompson has the longest road game point scoring streak in the UHL. Thompson has scored 13 points in his last 10 road games, starting back on November 3rd in Richmond.
AVOID THE THREE GOAL MARGIN The Elmira Jackals have not had a lot of success in three-goal games this season. Elmira is a dismal 3-7-0 when the goal differential in the game is three.
SECOND PERIOD WOES The Jackals have a 12 goal differential this season and the second period is the main factor. Elmira has been out-scored 59-33 in the middle frame this season.
Shooting Percentage: Jason Sessa (18.2%)
Jamie Thompson was activated from the 7-day Injured Reserve list Saturday and scored one goal and one assist in two games this week to add to his point total in the Goals for Glove House Fundraiser. Through twenty-eight games played Jamie has thirty-two points coming on fourteen goals and twenty assists, putting him tied for third on the Jackals in scoring.
There will NOT be an Elmira Jackals Coachs Show broadcast LIVE Tuesday night from Patricks Pub, 303 College Ave. at 7pm. The Jackals will be on the road Tuesday, heading to Richmond for a Wednesday night battle in Virginia. The Coachs Show will return Tuesday January 25th. Join Head Coach Todd Brost and Voice of the Jackals Owen Newkirk, along with two Jackals players for the broadcast.