News release
9 April 2012
Elmira, N.Y. - Corey Cowick scored the go-ahead goal with 3:21 remaining in the third period and then connected with an empty netter moments later, as the Elmira Jackals defeated the Reading Royals in Game 5 of the best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals, 4-2, on Monday night at First Arena. The Jackals, who earned their second-ever Kelly Cup Playoff series win, will meet the Florida Everblades in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Semifinals starting this Friday.
The Jackals, who had fallen in the first two contests of the series but had fought back with home victories in the third and fourth games, broke the tension of Game 5 with the opening goal at 11:45 of the first period. Jean Bourbeau snuck in from the end boards, backhanded a puck off of Mark Owuya's right pad, and then pushed in the rebound to put Elmira up, 1-0.
After a scoreless second period, the Jackals took their 1-0 advantage into what would prove to be a back-and-forth final frame.
Denny Urban snapped in a shot from the right circle that sailed past Brian Stewart off of a face-off, tying the contest, 1-1, just 1:54 into the third.
The Jackals responded minutes later, as Dustin Gazley centered a puck from the end boards for Artem Demkov at 7:20. Demkov chipped the puck past Owuya from the crease, giving the Jackals the lead again, 2-1.
After an Elmira defensive-zone turnover, Yannick Tifu backhanded a Dale Mitchell feed from the slot and into the net, evening the score, 2-2, at 13:20.
Moments after Tifu's tying goal, a loose puck on a Royals wraparound attempt rolled past Stewart and toward the goal line. As the puck reached the line, Craig Rivet skated over and pushed the puck away from the net, keeping the contest knotted up.
With time winding down in the third, Cowick took a free puck at center, skated to the right circle in Reading's end, and wristed a puck off of Owuya and into the net, putting Elmira back in front, 3-2, at 16:39, with the eventual game-winning tally.
Cowick fired in an empty-net goal with under 52 seconds remaining, sealing the contest and the series.
Stewart (3-1) made 27 saves for his and the Jackals' third-straight win. Owuya (2-3) stopped 29 of 32 shots, as his and the Royals' season came to an end.
The series win was Elmira's first since the 2009 North Division Semifinals, when the Jackals defeated the Trenton Devils in seven games. Elmira became the eighth team in ECHL history to win a best-of-five series after trailing two games to none. The Jackals have won three-straight games for the first time in their Kelly Cup Playoff history. Elmira has won four-straight home playoff games dating back to the 2011 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals and is 8-8 all-time at home. Including the regular season, the Jackals went 8-2-0-0 at home against Reading this season and was 14-5-2 vs. the Royals overall in 2011-2012. Cowick's goals were the first two of his postseason careeer. The Royals had gone 141 minutes and 57 seconds without a goal before Urban's tally on Monday. Elmira and Florida met in the 2010 American Conference Quarterfinals, with the Everblades winning the best-of-five series, three games to two. The Jackals are now 2-1 in their ECHL history in deciding games of a playoff series