News release
21 January 2012
Johnstown, Pa. - The Elmira Jackals (26-12-1-0) powered their way past the Wheeling Nailers (21-14-2-1) on Saturday night at War Memorial Arena, exploding for seven goals in the final two periods to earn a 7-4 victory. The win extended Elmira's division lead over Wheeling to eight points.
Wheeling pounced on Elmira early in the game, notching 18 first-period shots. Olivier Malka blasted a puck from the left point that flew past Jackals netminder Timo Pielmeier's glove, giving Wheeling the 1-0 edge at 10:57. Chris Barton pushed in a rebound off a Kyle Bushee shot just eight seconds into the Nailers' first power play, extending Wheeling's lead to 2-0 at 13:57.
The Jackals put together one of their most dominant periods of the season in the middle frame, outshooting the Nailers 18-4. Josh Brittain redirected a Nick Schaus shot into the net at 3:21 while Jordan Pietrus drove a puck off the glove of Nailers goaltender Peter Delmas into the goal at 10:32, evening the score, 2-2. Paul Crowder fed in a loose puck off of an unpredictable carom from the end boards, giving the Nailers a 3-2 lead at 12:21, but Maxime Gratchev took an Artem Demkov feed and fired the puck in from the left circle at 15:05, sending the game into the second intermission tied, 3-3.
The Jackals came out firing out of the gate in the final frame. Louie Caporusso shot a puck in from the slot just 22 seconds into the third period, giving Elmira its first lead, 4-3. Brittain pushed in a Gazley centering pass for his second goal of the contest at 4:14. Gratchev backhanded a puck in on the doorstep at 5:37, putting Elmira up 6-3. Barton knocked in his second of the contest at 17:43 to make it a 6-4 game, but Pietrus sealed it with an empty netter at 19:16, giving the Jackals a 7-4 victory.
Pielmeier stopped 34 of 38 shots to earn his ninth victory of the season, improving to 5-0-1-0 in his last six outings. Delmas made 31 saves in suffering his fifth defeat of the year.
Elmira is unbeaten in regulation in its last 14 Atlantic Division games, going 13-0-1-0 dating back to Nov. 26. Gazley recorded his second three-assist game of the season. The Jackals' seven goals were their most in a game since opening night. The four-goal third period was Elmira's most productive of the season, as the Jackals had not scored four goals in a period since Mar. 18, 2011. The Jackals have defeated the Nailers in four-straight games. Elmira extended its Eastern Conference lead to four points over Gwinnett. The game was the Jackals' first in Johnstown since Apr. 3, 2010