News release
23 March 2007
Mike Oliveira returned to the Jackals lineup Friday night against Kalamazoo.
Elmira, NY The Kalamazoo Wings broke open a 1-1 tie with three second period goals on their way to a 4-1 win over the Elmira Jackals Friday night at First Arena.
The Jackals had Mike Oliveira, Yevgeny Lazarev and Curtis Tidball all return to the lineup from the Injured Reserve to face off against the K-Wings, but the influx of new players would not be enough to propel Elmira to victory. Tyler Willis opened the scoring with a short-handed goal at 15:58 of the 1st period, assisted by Adam Elzinga and Lucas Drake. But Frank Littlejohn brought the 3,248 fans at First Arena to their feet when he tallied his 36th goal of the season at 18:05, after he was sent free on a breakaway by Glenn Detulleo; goaltender Zach Sikich also assisted on the goal.
In spite of the fact that Elmira was playing a strong, even game against Kalamazoo, the visitors broke open the score in the middle frame. Kory Karlander scored a power play goal at 12:46 to give the K-Wings the lead. Littlejohn just missed a chance to tie the game at two, when his short-handed effort beat goaltender Tom Askey, but clanged off the crossbar. Jason Lawmaster then put his team up 3-1 at 15:18 when he scored just moments after that same Kalamazoo power play expired. Down by two, Littlejohn was pulled down by Jeff Brown and referee Neil Christopher award the Jackals forward a penalty shot; but Askey again denied Elmiras leading goal scorer. Karlander added his second goal of the night with just 25 seconds remaining in the period as he lifted a shot over the glove of Sikich, giving Kalamazoo a 4-1 lead after forty minutes.
Elmira worked hard over the third period, managing 11 shots on goal, but could not solve Askeys play in goal. Rob Chappell and Jesse Rycroft dropped the gloves with 9 minutes left in the game, providing a little entertainment in the final period.
Tom Askey earned his 24th win of the season in goal for Kalamazoo, stopping 29-of-30 shots as the K-Wings improved to 40-21-6 on the year. Zach Sikich recorded an assist in the game, but took the loss in goal for Elmira, making 34 saves on 38 shots as the Jackals dropped to 27-41-1 on the season. Kalamazoo finished 1-for-5 on the power play, while Elmira was 0-for-6.
The Jackals will host the K-Wings for round two on Saturday night at First Arena for a 7:35 pm face off. The two teams will face each other again on Wednesday, March 28th in Kalamazoo at Wings Stadium.