Jordan Pietrus has been showcasing his scoring touch
over the last few games and he kept the show going tonight. Just over three
minutes in Pietrus scored his 11th goal of the season to put the Jackals in the
driver's seat. Rob Bellamy and Ryan Palmer assisted by working the puck quickly
through the neutral zone. The goal extended Pietrus' point streak to five games
with five goals and two assists in that span. The Jackals had a pair of power
play chances to extend the lead but were turned away by goalie Brandon Anderson
and the Royals' killers. Maxime Clermont helped the Jackals kill a pair of
penalties of their own and, with seven saves in the period, ensured the Jackals
went into the break with the lead.
In the second period the Jackals were
besieged by a Royals offense that generated 20 shots on goal against just five
for Elmira. The steady hand of Clermont in net, though, kept the game from
getting out of hand as he stopped all but 18 in the stanza. David Vallorani tied
the game a little more than six minutes in with a high and hard wrist shot from
between the faceoff circles. That was followed up by a power play goal from
Stanislav Galiev at 12:15 to put Reading in front for the first tiime. The
Royals had no time to enjoy the view, though, because Andrew Rowe responded with
his 19th 45 seconds later. Shortly after the Jackals were in hot water with a
lengthy 5-on-3 to kill off, but with Clermont's help they kept the game tied. In
the waning moments Pietrus found Bellamy wide open in front and his eighth goal
of the season restored Elmira's lead at 3-2.
In the third period it was
a familiar face that had been missing for some time that brought the noise early
on. Chaz Johnson, playing his first game since New Year's Eve, rifled home a
one-timer off of Brandon Blandina's setup at 1:13 to give the Jackals a 4-2
lead. That proved to be the eventual game winner. Bellamy netted his second of
the night, again from the door step, at 6:40 to build Elmira's cushion to three.
That proved handy because Nikita Kashirsky netted his eighth at 16:19 to make
things tense in the final minutes. With Louie Caporusso serving a delay of game
minor over the final two minutes the Royals enjoyed a 6-on-4 skater advantage
with Anderson pulled. But Elmira's defense slammed the door and the final was
set.
Clermont grabbed his 11th win of the season with 27 saves. Elmira
went 0-for-4 on the power play and 7-for-8 on the penalty kill.
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