Jackals Weekly Release 3/23-3/29

ELMIRA, NY - The Elmira Jackals, proud ECHL affiliate of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the AHL's Rochester Americans, continue their seven-game homestand with three games this week. On Wednesday, the Jackals host the Fort Wayne Komets and on Friday and Saturday, the Florida Everblades visit First Arena.

Last Week's Record: 1-1-1
Overall Record: 31-25-7; sixth place in East Division, eighth place in Eastern Conference

Leaders:
Goals: Mike Seidel (20)
Assists: Taylor Stefishen (23)
Points: Mike Seidel & Taylor Stefishen (37)
+/-: x Matt Tassone (+15)
PIMs: Justin Sawyer (158)
PPG: Steven Shamanski (6)
SHG: Mike Seidel (3)
Wins: Travis Fullerton (19)
GAA: Sam Marotta (2.54)
SVP: Sam Marotta (.915)

Previewing the Upcoming Week:

3/25 vs. Fort Wayne Komets - 7:05 p.m. EST
Home vs. FW 0-0-0, Away vs. FW 1-0-0
On Wednesday, the Jackals and Komets clash for the second of three meetings this season and the only meeting at First Arena. The last time these two teams met occurred on January 30th, 2015. The Komets scored early, but the Jackals battled back and received goals from Zach Tolkinen and Mike Seidel to pull ahead of Fort Wayne. Sam Marotta shut the door and turned aside 22 of 23 shots faced for the victory. Last season, the Jackals and Komets faced off seven times and Elmira earned five wins. The last meeting at First Arena came on January 26th, 2014. Mike Vaskivuo scored twice and added an assist as the Jackals pushed past the Komets, 4-1. Jake Trask and Rob Bellamy also scored for the Jackals. The Jackals are 8-3-0 all-time against Fort Wayne.

3/27 vs. Florida Everblades - 7:05 p.m. EST; 3/28 vs. Florida Everblades - 7:05 p.m. EST
Home vs. FLA 1-0-0, Away vs. FLA 0-1-0
On Friday and Saturday, the Jackals continue their seven-game homestand against the Florida Everblades with the final two of four meetings this season and the second and third of three contests at First Arena. In the last meeting, the Jackals clawed back from a three-goal deficit and defeated Florida 6-5 in overtime. Riley Wetmore recorded a goal and two assists to lead the Jackals with three points. Thomas Nesbitt and Mike Seidel each scored twice and Mike Bergin and Justin Kea added two assists apiece. Lucas Bloodoff scored the game-winner in overtime and added an assist in their wild comeback win. The first meeting of the season occurred on December 10th, 2014 at Germain Arena, which was the fifth game in a stretch where the Jackals played six games in seven nights. The Everblades struck just 12 seconds into the game and increased their lead just over four minutes later. Matt Tassone scored twice for the Jackals, including a power-play tally, but the Everblades added three more in the second and one in the third to push past Elmira 6-2. Elmira is 8-9-0 all-time against Florida.

Recapping Last Week:

3/16 vs. Toledo Walleye: L 0-3
The Jackals opened a seven-game homestand tonight against the Toledo Walleye in search of their third straight win, but Jeff Lerg would spoil Elmira's effort in a 3-0 Toledo victory. The Jackals generated multiple scoring chances in the first period, including a blast off the crossbar by Nick Tuzzolino, but the Walleye would strike first at 13:15 of the frame. Cody Lampl out-waited Trevor Gerling's sliding block attempt, walked into the slot and ripped home his seventh goal of the season. Alden Hirschfeld and Michael Leone earned the assists. Just over three minutes later the Walleye would double their lead with Kyle Bonis' one-time blast. A.J. Jenks forced a turnover at the Jackals' blueline and fed the puck to former Jackal Justin Daniels, who returned the feed to Jenks for the connection with Bonis in the right circle for his team-leading 29th goal of the season. Tyler Barnes added to Toledo's lead at 9:15 of the second period with his 21st goal of the season. Troy Schwab and Shane Sims earned the helpers on Barnes' power-play tally. The Walleye out-shot the Jackals 18-7 in the middle frame and 32-15 through 40 minutes of play. Neither team found the back of the net in the third period as the Jackals' comeback effort fell short. Sam Marotta stopped 36 of 39 shots faced, but was saddled with the loss. Jeff Lerg stopped all 21 shots faced for his fourth shutout of the season.

3/20 vs. Wheeling Nailers: SOL 1-2

Zach Tolkinen scored a power-play goal late in the third period to tie the game and send it to overtime, but the Nailers would close out the Jackals in the shootout, 2-1. Neither team scored in the opening stanza, but there were three separate fights and 46 combined penalty minutes in the first 20 minutes of play. Joe Houk recorded his first professional fight with an early bout against Pat McGrath. Then, Lucas Bloodoff dropped the gloves with Harrison Ruopp and pumped the Nailer with a combination of rights and lefts. To round out the first period fight card, Justin Sawyer and Pat McGrath dropped the mitts off of a face-off and Sawyer proved to be the clear victor. Neither team netted the game's first marker in the second period either, so the game went to the third frame tied 0-0. Former Jackal Chaz Johnson recorded the game's first goal at 9:34 of the third period with a backdoor feed from Derek Army. Rookie blueliner Zach Tolkinen knotted the tying marker on the man advantage at 16:31 with a shot from the point that snuck through Franky Palazzese. Sixty-five minutes would not be enough to decide a winner, so the game went to a shootout. David Gilbert and Mike Ratchuk scored for the Nailers and Palazzese stopped attempts from Nick Tuzzolino, Steven Shamanski, Trevor Gerling and Mike Seidel to steal the extra point. Travis Fullerton stopped 33 of 34 shots faced and two more in the shootout, but was handed the hard-fought loss.

3/21 vs. Wheeling Nailers: W 2-1
Trevor Gerling scored his first professional goal as the Jackals powered past the Wheeling Nailers, 2-1. Taylor Stefishen scored the game-winning-goal and Travis Fullerton stopped 35 of 36 shots faced for his 19th win of the season. The first period resembled last night's contest as we saw two separate fights and a rash of penalty minutes in the early going. First, Pat McGrath hit Mike Seidel from behind and Taylor Stefishen came in to protect his teammate. Then, Paul Cianfrini popped Mike Bergin from behind and Bergin returned to his feet to challenge the Nailer. However, unlike last night, the Jackals would bury in the opening stanza and take the momentum into the first intermission. Keith Buehler intercepted a lazy pass across the Jackals blue line and fed Trevor Gerling for a breakaway with just 43 seconds left in the period. Gerling made a silky move to the backhand and buried his first professional goal past Franky Palazzese to give the Jackals a 1-0 lead. The Jackals carried their momentum over from the late first period goal into the second frame and added to their lead just 3:31 into the middle stanza. Ryan Rashid passed the puck to Nick Tuzzolino, who stretched it ahead to Taylor Stefishen and the North Vancouver, British Columbia native fished the play with a quick wrist-shot past Palazzese for his 14th goal of the season. Late in the period, Steven Shamanski hammered Jarrett Burton in the corner and obliged the Nailer to a fight which was easily won by the Carberry, Manitoba native. In the third period, the Jackals controlled the play and held their two-goal lead until a late power-play and an extra attacker provided Chaz Johnson with his 14th goal of the season. Zack Torquato and Mike Ratchuk earned the assists. However, that would be as close as the Nailers would get as Travis Fullerton shut the door and powered the Jackals to victory.

Quick Hits:

* The Jackals are 21-0-0-2 when leading after two periods.

* Elmira is 27-2-2 when scoring three of more goals.

* Elmira is 13-4-0-7 in one-goal games.

* Zach Tolkinen is the only Jackal to skate in all 63 games this season.

* Nineteen rookies have recorded at least one point for the Jackals this season.

* Sam Marotta ranks second among rookie goaltenders with a 2.54 goals-against-average and also ranks second with a .915 save percentage.

*Steven Shamanski is tied for first among all rookies with 15 power-play points.

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Upcoming Events:

 Wednesday, March 25: Elmira Jackals vs. Fort Wayne Komets, 7:05 p.m. EST. All Elmira Jackals broadcasts are carried on WNGZ 104.9 FM and 93.5 FM in Elmira. Neulion provides pay-per-view internet TV broadcasts of all Jackals games as well. Check out how you can watch the Jackals on Neulion by clicking here . All Jackals broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to faceoff with the Pregame Show. Visit jackalshockey.com for tickets.

Friday, March 27: Elmira Jackals vs. Florida Everblades, 7:05 p.m. EST. All Elmira Jackals broadcasts are carried on WNGZ 104.9 FM and 93.5 FM in Elmira. Neulion provides pay-per-view internet TV broadcasts of all Jackals games as well. Check out how you can watch the Jackals on Neulion by clicking here. All Jackals broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to faceoff with the Pregame Show. Visit jackalshockey.com for tickets.

Saturday, March 28: Elmira Jackals vs. Florida Everblades, 7:05 p.m. EST. All Elmira Jackals broadcasts are carried on WNGZ 104.9 FM and 93.5 FM in Elmira. Neulion provides pay-per-view internet TV broadcasts of all Jackals games as well. Check out how you can watch the Jackals on Neulion by clicking here. All Jackals broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to faceoff with the Pregame Show. Visit jackalshockey.com for tickets.