Jackals Weekly Release 11/10-11/16

ELMIRA, N.Y. - The Elmira Jackals, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and AHL's Rochester Americans, hit the road for three games last week and went 1-1-1. The Jackals defeated the Evansville Icemen 3-2 on Wednesday in the Icemen's morning Education Day game. Elmira continued its road trip in Kalamazoo and finished the season series against the Wings with a hard-fought defeat on Friday and a shootout loss on Saturday.

Last Week's Record: 1-1-1
Overall Record: 5-3-2; tied for second place in East Division, tied for fourth place in Eastern Conference

Leaders:
Goals: Brayden Irwin (6)
Assists: Taylor Stefishen & Brayden Irwin (8)
Points: Brayden Irwin (14)
+/-: Brayden Irwin (+7)
PIMs: Andrew Conboy (37)
PPG: Taylor Stefishen (2)
SHG: Matt Tassone (1)
Wins: Travis Fullerton (4)
GAA: Travis Fullerton (2.57)
SVP: Sam Marotta (.923)


Previewing the Upcoming Week:

11/14 vs. Evansville Icemen - 7:05 p.m. EST; 11/15 vs. Evansville Icemen - 7:05 p.m. EST
Home vs. EVN 0-0-0, Away vs. EVN 1-0-0
The Jackals return home to take on former bench boss Dwight Mullins and the Evansville Icemen for the second of six meetings this season and first of four at First Arena. These two foes will become very familiar this month as five of the six meetings this season occur in November. Elmira and Evansville faced off at 9:30 a.m. CST last Wednesday at the Ford Center as a part of Education Day in Evansville. The Jackals fought through adversity on the road to defeat the Icemen 3-2 and hand them their first regulation loss. Former Icemen Mike Seidel exacted revenge against his old squad by scoring the game-winning-goal in the second period. Brayden Irwin and Allan McPherson also scored for the Jackals.

Recapping Last Week:
11/5 at Evansville: W 3-2

Brayden Irwin gave the Jackals a 1-0 lead 8:59 into the opening frame with a blast from the right circle over Cal Heeter's left shoulder. Irwin's sixth of the season extended his point streak to eight games (six goals, seven assists) to open the season. Tassone's assist pushes his point streak to four games (five goals, four assists) as he is the reigning Sher-Wood Hockey ECHL Player of the Week. Evansville's Myles Bell and Patrick Kennedy scored 3:10 apart in the first period to put the Icemen ahead 2-1. But, Clarkson product Allan McPherson answered at 16:51 of the opening frame with his fifth of the season. Former Icemen Mike Seidel put the Jackals up for good in the second period with a put-back from the slot. Goaltender Travis Fullerton stood tall and turned aside 27 of 29 shots faced to earn his fourth victory of the season.

11/7 at Kalamazoo: L 2-3



Taylor Stefishen scored on the Jackals first shot of the game 6:55 into the first period. The Wings would break through in the second period when Jeremie Blain's shot from the point snuck through the arm of Marotta at 14:58 of the middle frame. Less than three minutes later Nathan Longpre capitalized on a loose puck in the slot and buried it for his second of the season. Shamanski was able to breath life into the Jackals' potential comeback with a backhand wraparound goal with 10:59 remaining in regulation. Elmira felt the momentum shifting in its direction and surged forward on the attack. However, Mallet's goal with 20 seconds remaining sunk the Jackals' hopes of earning at least one point. Guimond earned his third helper of the game on Mallet's game-winner. Thomas Nesbitt finished with two assists and Brayden Irwin extended his point-streak to nine games (six goals, eight assists) to open the season. Same Marotta stopped 43 of 46 shots faced but was handed the hard-fought loss.
 
11/8 at Kalamazoo: SOL 1-2

Neither team broke through in the first period but at the halfway point Justin Kea dropped the gloves with Josh Brittain and landed a few hard rights in his first professional fight. Kalamazoo struck first at 9:28 of the second period when Matt Caria tapped home the loose puck following Sam Ftorek's flubbed slapshot attempt. The Jackals trailed by one goal going into the third period for the second straight night and once again they battled back to tie the game. Allan McPherson started the play along the wall and fed the puck across the ice to Steven Shamanski, who found Justin Kea in the slot for the tip-in on the power-play. Kea's second of the season came at 7:02 of the third period. The game went to a shootout and it was Alex Mallet for the second straight game that netted the difference-maker. Nathan Longpre also scored for Kalamazoo in the shootout and the Jackals shooters went 0-for-4. Fullerton stopped 25 of 26 shots faced and added three saves on five shootout attempts but was handed the loss. 

Quick Hits:
* Matt Tassone has recorded nine points (5G, 4A) in the last four games.

* Brayden Irwin is tied for the league-lead with 14 points (6G, 8A) in 10 games.

* Steven Shamanski leads Jackals defensemen with 7 points (2G, 5A). He is currently on a three-game point streak (1G, 3A) and is tied for the lead-lead among defensemen with 5 PPP.

* Elmira is third in the league on the power-play at 24.3% (9-for-37).

* Allan McPherson is third in the league with 31 SOG.