Elmira Jackals Hope for Weekend Wins

The Elmira Jackals, ECHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres, look to capture a pair of wins in a home-and-home series with the Reading Royals this weekend.

The Elmira Jackals will visit Reading Friday night before the teams reconvene in Elmira on Saturday (7:05 pm).

The teams have met three times so far this season, with Reading taking two of those games. The season series opened on October 23, with the Royals capturing a 5-1 win over the Jackals. The teams met the following day, when Elmira won 7-2. Reading won the most recent meeting, 8-3 on October 28 – a game that was rescheduled from March 27, 2016.

Fourteen Royals skaters have registered at least a point this season, led by forward Justin Crandall. Crandall has eight points in three games this season against Elmira, including one goal and seven assists. That includes a five-point night in the last meeting between the teams.

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Former Buffalo Sabres prospect Kevin Sunder has six points against the Elmira Jackals this season, including three goals for his first ECHL hat trick on October 23.

Forwards Robbie Czarnik and Mike Pereira also have five points each against the Jackals this year. Czarnik has one goal and four assists versus Elmira, while Pereira has registered two goals and three assists, including a four-point game on October 28.

For the Elmira Jackals, forward Cason Hohmann leads the team with six points in three games against the Royals. He was held pointless in the first meeting, but went on to register a four-point game on October 24, adding two points on October 28.

Colin Jacobs also has four points against the Royals – three goals and one assist. Twelve other Elmira Jackals skaters have registered at least a point against the Royals this season.

Goaltending has been a melting point for the Royals against the Elmira Jackals this season.

Martin Ouellette stopped 20 of 21 shots in the first meeting, but that was his only action against them. Duties were split between Connor Knapp and Nick Niedert in the second meeting, with Knapp stopping six of 10 and Niedert stopping eight of 11. Knapp went on to stop 10 of 13 shots faced in the last meeting.

For the Jackals, C.J. Motte stopped 28 of 32 shots against the Royals in the first meeting between the teams. Sam Marotta went on to stop 21 of 23 shots faced in their second meeting.

Goaltending duties were split for the Jackals in the most recent meeting with Reading. Motte stopped 15 of 20 shots faced, while Marotta had four saves on seven shots.

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The Elmira Jackals are currently tied for third in the East Division and sit at 11th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 6-7-0-0. They’ve gone 5-5 in their last ten games and have not faced any shootouts yet this season. The Jackals have a minus-11 goal differential.

Hohmann leads the Jackals with 11 points in 12 games, including a team-high seven assists. He’s eighth in the ECHL in rookie scoring. Forward Mike Seidel leads the team in goals, with six on the season, and is second overall on the Jackals with nine points in 13 games.

Seidel is also tied for second leaguewide with three power-play goals, while Nathan Oystrick is tied for third in the ECHL with four power-play assists.

After this weekend’s home-and-home with Reading, the Elmira Jackals face a home-and-home with the Adirondack Thunder, visiting Adirondack on November 25 before hosting them on Saturday, the 28th. The Jackals then hit Brampton for an afternoon tilt with the Beast on November 29.