News release
11 March 2011
Elmira, N.Y. - Justin Barr's first ECHL goal proved to be the game winner on Friday night as the Elmira Jackals (29-24-6-1) held off the Gwinnett Gladiators (28-26-2-5) at a sold-out First Arena, 2-1. The victory propelled Elmira from a seventh-place tie in the Eastern Conference standings with Gwinnett into a sixth-place tie with Wheeling.
Michael Dubuc's team-leading 23rd goal of the season put the Jackals up 1-0 at 13:33 of the opening period. With the Jackals on a five-on-three man advantage, Justin Donati rifled a backdoor pass to the right goal line for Dubuc, who drove the puck in past the glove of Gladiators goaltender Chris Carrozzi. Dubuc now has 12 power-play goals on the season to lead the Jackals and has scored in four-straight contests (4g-0a). R.J. Anderson had an assist on the play to extend his point streak to four games (0g-6a). The goal marked the first time Elmira scored first in a game under head coach Robbie Nichols.
Barr's first goal as a Jackal was set up on a feed in the neutral zone by Eric Regan. The third-year pro from Chicago took the puck into the zone and snapped it from the left circle through Carrozzi's pads to put Elmira up 2-0 at 8:17 of the second period.
The Gladiators scored their lone goal at 8:29 of the third period on a power play when Matt Francis, playing in his first game since Dec. 3, drove a puck past Jackals netminder Marco Cousineau to make it 2-1.
Francis' goal was Cousineau's only blemish on the evening, as the rookie goaltender delivered another sharp performance, making 30 saves on 31 shots to improve to 19-12-4-0 on the season.
Carrozzi, in a 26-save performance, dropped to 15-14-1-4 in 2010-2011 as Gwinnett's six-game winning streak came to an end.
The Jackals are now tied for sixth place in the conference at 65 points with the Nailers after another one-goal victory. Elmira has won three-straight one-goal games and is 5-0 in one-goal contests under Nichols. The Jackals are 7-1-0-0 overall since Nichols' first game as the team's coach on Feb. 25.
The crowd of 4,136 fans was Elmira's second largest of the 2010-2011 season and served as its league-leading 10th sellout and 42nd since the club joined the ECHL prior to the 2007-2008 campaign.