News release
24 January 2005
Jackals Hit rock Bottom, Rebound versus Danbury
2004-05 RECORD: 19-24-5, 43 points (14-12-1 home, 5-12-4 road), Fourth Place, Eastern Division
January 26 7:00 pm vs. Danbury Trashers (28-14-3, 59 pts) First Place, Eastern Division
January 28 7:05 pm @ Adirondack Frostbite (26-11-6, 58 pts) Second Place, Eastern Division
January 29 7:05 pm @ Adirondack Frostbite (26-11-6, 58 pts) Second Place, Eastern Division
Richmond, VA Led by a David Hymovitz Hat-Trick, the Richmond Riverdogs past the Elmira Jackals in the East Division standings with a 4-2 win Wednesday night at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Riverdogs never trailed in this game and went in from at 8:17 when Hymovitz found himself all alone in the slot courtesy of a Jackals turnover and Richmonds leading scorer buried his shot up underneath the crossbar for a 1-0 lead. Elmira quickly equalized on their first man-advantage of the evening as Jason Sessa gobbled up a rebound and slotted the puck past goalie Nathan Grobins for his fourteenth power play goal of the season at 10:15; assisted by Trevor Burgess and Jeff Antonovich. Hymovitz scored his second goal of the period in almost the same spot, lifting a wrist shot up over the glove side of Hewitt at 16:49 for a 2-1 lead after twenty minutes.
The second period has statistically been Elmiras weakest period for shot on goal and tonight was no different; the Jackals were out-shot 13-9 in the middle session. David Brosseau put home a power play goal at 14:09 to give Richmond a two-goal lead, but the Twin Tiers team came rolling back with an answer, Eddy Lowe redirected a Trevor Burgess shot at 15:59; Nathan Gillies also assisted on the goal. Elmira had a golden opportunity to draw level again when Richmond took a four-minute high-sticking double minor late in the period, but despite the carryover, the Jackals failed to capitalize.
In the third frame, traditionally Elmiras strongest period, the Jackals dominated the Riverdogs in everything but the goal department. Elmira out-shot Richmond 9-4 in the third, but failed to breakdown Grobins, who held the Jackals scoreless for the last 24 minutes of the game. With the net empty and the Chemung County warriors pressing, Hymovitz got his hat-trick but hooking down George Pujacs, miraculously avoiding a penalty, and softly laying the puck into the abandoned crease.
Grobins earned his 4th win in 5 starts for Richmond, making 28 saves on 30 shots, while Hewitt was again the hard luck loser, playing well, stopping 26-of-29, but failing to come away with the win.
Elmira, NY The Kalamazoo Wings equaled an Elmira Jackals UHL record by winning their 12th consecutive game Friday night 4-1 at the First Arena.
Kalamazoo took the lead with a goal at 11:33 of the first period when Mark Vilneff batted home a rebound from Andrew Luciuk for a 1-0 score after twenty minutes. The K-Wings dominated the opening frame, out-shooting the Jackals 16-3 in the first period.
In the second period Elmira tied up the score early on as Dean Jackson buried his third goal of the season at 2:22, assisted by George Pujacs and Jamie Thompson. But then Kalamazoo went to work scoring three unanswered goals. First Tim Turner scored at 5:19 just as a Simon Poirier minor penalty had expired. Then Kevin Kotyluk scored a power play goal at 14:41 for a 3-1 lead. 26 seconds later the score was 4-1 as Sean Starke swooped in on Greg Hewitt and shocked the Jackals with a quick strike at 15:07.
Elmira battled back in the third period, out-shooting the K-Wings 17-7 in the final frame, but could not crack the armor of goalie Joel Martin a second time. Rookie Kevin Kurk replaced Hewitt and shutdown Kalamazoo in the final period.
Martin made 29 saves on 30 Jackals shots for his 6th win of the season, while Hewitt took the loss, stopping 27-of-31; Kurk blocked all 7 shots he faced in the third period.
1/22/05 JACKALS 4 Danbury 3 (1-0 in shootout)
Elmira, NY Led by a fantastic outing from rookie goaltender Kevin Kurk, the Elmira Jackals came from behind to beat the Danbury Trashers 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night at the First Arena.
In front of 3,598 die-hard Jackals fans who braved the elements of the winters worst blizzard so far, Danbury jumped out to an early lead. Jeff Daw redirected a Mario Larocque shot from the point past Kurk at 1:33 for a 1-0 lead. But Elmira surged back with a power play goal from Greg Koehler at 3:17. It was Koehlers 26th goal of the season, assisted by Jason Sessa and Jeff Antonovich. Elmira took the lead at 6:48 when Eddy Lowe tipped a Nathan Gillies shot past Scott Stirling for his 12th goal of the year; also assisted by Jamie Thompson.
In the second period, Danbury would be opportunistic despite the fact that Elmira out-shot the visitors 17-10 in the period. Danbury leveled the score at 7:37 with a J.F. David goal. The Trashers then regained their lead at 13:45 when Blake Bellefeuille scored his 15th of the year.
Danbury would hold that lead until the final minute of regulation, but it would not be enough. With 36 seconds left on the clock and Kurk pulled on the bench for the extra attacker Jeff Antonovichs shot from the point beat Stirling and found the net to tie the game.
In the shootout Kurk put on a display, stopping a perfect 5-for-5 for the win, and Antonovich scored the only goal of the overtime session in the 4th round, beating Stirling with a nifty deke that led to a quick backhander into the net.
Kurk earned his 5th win of the season, making 27 saves on 30 shots and 5-of-5 in the shootout, while Stirling stopping a massive 42-of-45, and 3-of-4 in the shootout, but failed to come away with the win.
JACKALS PLAYER AND GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK: (WEEK 15)
Jason Sessa - RW 3 GP, 1 goal, 2 assists, 3 pts, +1, 6 PIMs
Long Island, New York native Jason Sessa scored 3 points this week, and finished at +1. Sessa started the week with a goal in a 4-2 loss in Richmond. Friday Sessa was among the few players to remain even in the Jackals 4-1 loss to Kalamazoo. Saturday he tallied two assists as the Jackals came from behind to beat Danbury 4-3 in a shootout. Sessa is tied for the team lead in goals (26) and leads the Jackals with 14 power play goals.
Kevin Kurk G 2 GP, 1-0-0, 2.26 GAA, 0.919 SV%, 37 saves
Rookie Kevin Kurk earned his second straight Jackals Goaltender of the Week honors. After his impressive win at Fort Wayne last week, Kurk came back with his same game this week. Friday night he was brought in to start the third period and shutdown the K-Wings for the final 20 minutes. Saturday Kurk got the start and turned aside 27-of-30 shots during regulation and then dazzled the First Arena crowd with a perfect 5-for-5 effort in the shootout for the win. In 11 appearances this season, Kurk has a 5-2-0 record and is a perfect 3-0 in shootouts in his career, stopping 17-of-19 attempts this year.
LEADING BY EXAMPLE Jackals Captain Trevor Burgess is leading all UHL defensemen in assists this season with 25 helpers in 42 games. Burgess is second amongst d-men in scoring with 29 points on the year.
SHOOTOUT SHUTOUT G Kevin Kurk stopped a perfect 5-of-5 attempts in his shootout win over Danbury on Saturday. Kurk has stopped 17-of-19 this season in three shootouts to put him 2nd in the UHL in shootout percentage (0.895).
NO LONGER STREAKING LW Jamie Thompson has the longest road game point scoring streak in the UHL this season. However, Thompsons streak came to an end Wednesday night in Richmond. He scored 13 points in 10 road games, starting back on November 3rd in Richmond.
BY THE NUMBERS The Jackals have a phenomenal 10-1-0 record when leading after two periods. However, if they are tied or are trailing after two periods, Elmira is a dismal 9-23-5 this season.
GOAL SCORERS C Greg Koehlers power play goal Saturday against Danbury put him back into a tie with Jason Sessa for the team lead in goals with 26. Koehler has a team high 56 points this year, which is currently 5th best in the UHL.
Plus/Minus: Carl Drakensjo, Dean Jackson (+2)
Shooting Percentage: Jason Sessa (17.2%)
Jamie Thompson had three assists in three games this week to add to his point total in the Goals for Glove House Fundraiser. Through 31 games played Jamie has 37 points coming on fourteen goals and twenty-three assists, putting him in third on the Jackals in scoring.