News release
8 January 2006
Elmira, NY The Elmira Jackals earned their 4th consecutive victory with a 4-2 win over the Richmond Riverdogs Sunday afternoon at the First Arena.
Playing in their second game of a stretch of seven at home, the Jackals took a mere 20 seconds to get on the board in the opening period. Eddy Lowe, who scored the game winner against Adirondack Saturday night, back-handed a shot from the low slot past Richmond goalie Mike DAlessandro for a 1-0 lead. Kevin Cooper and Josh Piro each had assists on the goal. Late in the period Elmira killed off a stretch of 4-consecutive minor penalties to keep their lead going into the break.
In the second period, the Jackals took their 5th-straight penalty 62 seconds after play resumed. At 1:23 Evgeny Lazarev got a loose puck after a failed clearing attempt and beat Jackals goalie Ryan McIntosh back to the net to tie the game. But Elmira would respond just as quickly as humanly possible. Eleven seconds later Kevin Coopers back-hand shot slipped past DAlessandro to regain the lead at 1:34, with assists going to Sean Regan and Konstantin Kalmikov. The Jackals out-shot the Riverdogs 22-14 in the second period, but failed to bolster their lead.
In the third period, Elmira got the insurance goal they were looking for. Jarrett Konkle poked in a rebound at 1:20 from Kalmikov and Chris Chaput, making it 3-1 Elmira. Richmond got a goal back at 15:52 when Dan Vandermeer snapped a shot into the net for a power play goal, but it would not be enough. The Jackals added an empty net goal from Kalmikov at 19:10, assisted by Konkle and Trevor Burgess to ice the game in the final minute.
Ryan McIntosh earned first star honors with his 7th win of the season, and 4th in a row, making 32 saves on 34 shots for Elmira. Richmonds Mike DAlessandro stopped 36-of-39 in the losing effort. Elmira was 0-for-7 on the power play in the game, while Richmond was 2-for-7.
The Jackals will have the week the recover and hone their skills in practice before returning to the ice for three next weekend at home.