Jackals Weekly Release 11/24-11/30

ELMIRA, N.Y. - The Elmira Jackals, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and AHL's Rochester Americans, head into the final week of November with the most home wins in the ECHL. Elmira has been stellar at First Arena, going 7-2-1 on home ice.

Last Week's Record: 2-1-1
Overall Record: 9-4-3; third place in East Division, fifth place in Eastern Conference

Leaders:
Goals: Allan McPherson (7)
Assists: Taylor Stefishen & Steven Shamanski (10)
Points: Taylor Stefishen (15)
+/-: x Brayden Irwin (+7)
PIMs: Andrew Conboy (42)
PPG: Taylor Stefishen (4)
SHG: Matt Tassone & Mike Seidel (1)
Wins: Travis Fullerton (7)
GAA: Sam Marotta (2.18)
SVP: Sam Marotta (.926)


Previewing the Upcoming Week:

11/26 at Reading Royals - 7:30 p.m. EST
Home vs. REA 1-0-1, Away vs. REA 1-1-0

The Jackals visit Santander Arena for the fifth of fifteen meetings this season, and the third of eight in Reading. These two East Division foes battled in Elmira on Friday night, with the Jackals bettering the Royals 3-2 in overtime. Allan McPherson scored the game-winner 1:44 into the extra frame to propel the Jackals to victory. Thomas Nesbitt and Colin Jacobs added the other Jackals goals. Elmira's last visit to Reading resulted in a 3-1 win courtesy of two goals from captain Matt Tassone, which sandwiched the game-winner once again scored by Allan McPherson. Goaltender Travis Fullerton has stopped 63 of 66 shots in the last two games against the Royals, earning wins both nights.

11/28 vs. Evansville Icemen - 7:05 p.m. EST; 11/29 vs. Evansville Icemen - 7:05 p.m. EST
Home vs. EVN 2-0-0, Away vs. EVN 1-0-0 

The Jackals host former bench boss Dwight Mullins and the Evansville Icemen for the final two times at First Arena this season. Elmira has won the first three meetings against Evansville this year, with three left on the schedule. The Jackals are 10-1-1 all-time against Evansville since the Icemen joined the ECHL in the 2012-13 season. Elmira is also 5-1-1 all-time at First Arena against the Icemen. The Jackals swept the first weekend series against Evansville two weeks ago with a 4-2 win on Friday and a 4-1 defeat on Saturday. Ryan Rashid, Nick Tuzzolino and Rob Florentino scored their first goals of the season in Friday's third period comeback win. Andrew Conboy scored just 38 seconds into Saturday's contest and the Jackals cruised to victory.
Recapping Last Week:
11/19 at Wheeling: SOL 3-2
Elmira hit the road for its second Wednesday morning school game in two weeks. Taylor Stefishen got Elmira on the board 3:52 into the opening frame with a redirect in the slot on the power-play. Later in the first period the Jackals' special teams would strike again, but this time it would be the penalty kill. Thomas Nesbitt churned his legs to chase down Nick Tuzzolino's clearing feed and found Mike Seidel streaming down the middle for the short-handed marker. Derek Army cut the Jackals' lead in half with a wrap-around goal 6:26 into the third period. Less than two minutes later Clark Seymour's slap-shot from the point snuck past Sam Marotta and tied the game. David Gilbert and Zack Torquato scored in the shootout and Wheeling netminder Eric Hartzell stopped all four shots he faced to give the Nailers a 3-2 win.

11/21 vs. Reading: W 3-2

There is no love lost between these two teams and tempers flared before the puck was dropped at First Arena. Jackals alternate captain Andrew Conboy and Royals captain Bryant Molle dropped the gloves just 35 seconds into the game. After a scoreless first period, Thomas Nesbitt buried 1:36 into the second period to give the Jackals a 1-0 lead. The Royals answered less than five minutes later when Pat Mulllane netted his fifth goal of the year. The Jackals broke the tie just 4:47 into the third period when Colin Jacobs scored his second goal of the year on a penalty shot. Cam Reid evened the score at 11:38 of the third period with a power-play goal just seven seconds into the man advantage. Sixty minutes was not enough the settle the score between these two East Division rivals. The Jackals were forced to kill off a four minute penalty at the end of regulation and into overtime before Allan McPherson netted the overtime game-winner. Seconds after the Jackals returned the full-strength McPherson carried the puck in the offensive zone on a 2-on-1 with Nesbitt and capitalized on his own rebound to give the Jackals a 3-2 win.  

11/22 vs. Wheeling: W 6-3

Four point nights from Mike Seidel, Allan McPherson and Steven Shamanski led the Jackals attack in their 6-3 victory against the Wheeling Nailers. Seidel gave the Jackals the first goal of the game 11:25 into the opening period. He added his second goal of the night 3:38 into the second period when he redirected Nick Tuzzolino's shot from the point past Palazzese to give Elmira a 2-0 lead. Nick D'Agostino answered 1:07 later to cut the Jackals lead back down to one. McPherson restored the Jackals two-goal lead 8:21 into the period on the power-play, burying a cross-ice feed from Ryan Rashid. Zack Torquato responded less than a minute later and after 40 minutes the Jackals took a 3-2 lead into the intermission. Max MacKay tied the game on a 5-on-3 power-play just 4:56 into the third period. Elmira earned a 5-on-3 power-play later in the third and capitalized on its opportunity. Shamanski blasted a slap-shot through the five-hole of Palazzese and into the back of the net to give the Jackals a 4-3 lead 13:11 into the frame. Seidel completed his hat-trick 17:23 into the third period by batting a bouncing puck into the empty cage. Taylor Stefishen added one more goal on the man advantage 19:22 into the stanza to extend Elmira's lead to 6-3.

11/23 vs. Wheeling: L 2-0

The Jackals six-game winning streak at First Arena came to an end on Sunday with a 2-0 loss to the Wheeling Nailers. Derek Army would strike first and give the Nailers a 1-0 lead 11:28 into the opening period. The Jackals out-shot the Nailers 15-8 in the first period but couldn't break through against Nailers netminder Eric Hartzell. Elmira continued to out-shoot Wheeling throughout the second period, but Hartzell was up to the task. The Jackals put 12 shots on goal in the middle frame to Wheeling's seven, but were unable to tie the game. Hartzell also had some help from his goal-posts, which were rung by the Jackals multiple times throughout the night. The Jackals pressed in the third period, but had every attempt thwarted by Hartzell. Army added the empty-net goal at 18:28 of the third period to seal the Nailers' win. Marotta stopped 24 of 25 shots faced but was handed the tough-luck loss and Hartzell turned aside all 38 shots he faced for the shutout victory.

Quick Hits:

* Sam Marotta leads all rookie netminders with a 2.18 goals-against-average. His GAA ranks sixth in the ECHL among all goalies.

* Taylor Stefishen is tied for fifth among rookies with 15 points. He is second among rookies with 4 power-play goals.

* Steven Shamanski is tied for the ECHL lead among defensemen with 13 points. He leads all rookie blueliners in points. He is tied for the league-lead among defensemen with 8 power-play points and is second with 6 power-play assists.

* Allan McPherson is tied for fourth among rookies with 7 goals.

* Elmira is sixth in the league allowing 2.81 goals-against-per-game.

* Elmira is third in the ECHL on the road penalty kill at 91.3% (21-for-23).

* Elmira is fifth in the league on the power-play at 21.9% (14-for-64).