News release
17 February 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012Johnstown, Pa. - The Elmira Jackals (29-18-2-2) fell behind early in the second period to the Wheeling Nailers (29-17-3-2) and could not catch up, suffering a 4-2 loss on Friday night at War Memorial Arena. With the victory, Wheeling took over first place in the Atlantic Division from Elmira by one point.
After a scoreless opening period, Denver Manderson and Christiaan Minella fired pucks in past Timo Pielmeier from the right circle at 34 seconds and 4:28 of the middle frame, respectively, as Wheeling jumped out to a 2-0 advantage.
Artem Demkov backhanded in a feed from the slot from Dustin Gazley at 5:33 of the second period, making it a one-goal contest, 2-1. The goal extended Demkov's point streak to six games (3g-3a) and Gazley's to eight (5g-7a).
Manderson fired in his second goal of the game past Pielmeier's stick at 6:39 of the third, extending Wheeling's lead to 3-1. Chris Barton pushed in an empty netter at 17:37 with Pielmeier pulled, making it 4-1.
Benjamin Dieude-Fauvel fired in his first ECHL goal at 19:15, beating Patrick Killeen high glove side from the left-wing boards to bring Elmira to within two goals, 4-2. The Jackals would get no closer, as the Nailers prevailed with the win.
Pielmeier (10-8-1-2) set aside 21 of 24 shots in his first loss since Feb. 3. Killeen (17-10-2-2) turned back 24 of 26 Elmira attempts.
Notes: Elmira's loss was its first in Johnstown since Mar. 8, 2009, snapping a seven-game winning streak at War Memorial Arena. The Jackals now have an all-time record of 13-6-1-0 in Johnstown. Wheeling has one game in hand on Elmira. The loss was the Jackals' first of the week after winning games on Tuesday against Wheeling and Thursday in Cincinnati