Jackals take a bite out of Cyclones

The Elmira Jackals (1-0-0-0) used a five-goal second period to defeat the Cincinnati Cyclones (0-1-0-0) by a 7-3 final score in front of 3,804 at First Arena on Friday night.

The Cyclones got an early chance to use their power play unit, as Chris Frank was whistled for roughing just 2:05 into the first period.  However, it was Elmira that capitalized as Brock McBride got behind the Cincinnati defense and swatted the puck past Cyclones rookie goalie Marc Cheverie making it 1-0 Elmira.  Luckily, Cincinnati found the net just a couple of minutes later when a Brian O’Hanley wrist shot beat Elmira netminder Marco Cousineau to knot things at 1-1.  They would end the first frame at the same score, however, the Jackals led in the shots 14-4.

Unfortunately, things came completely unglued for the Cyclones in the second period as five different Jackals found the net in the middle frame.  Michael Dubuc broke the 1-1 tie when he knocked home a rebound, making it 2-1.  Just 1:21 later, Elmira extended their lead as A.J. Perry buried a one-timer past the stick-side shoulder of Cheverie.  Oren Eizenman followed with another tally at 11:14, a power play goal, making it 4-1 Elmira.  But the Jackals weren’t done.  Eric Lampe and Patrick Coulombe then scored 51 seconds apart to blow the game wide open at 6-1 after 40 minutes of play.  At that point, the Cyclones were being outshot 35-9.

Yannick Tifu, who finished with a four-point night, added another goal 5:10 into the third period as he capitalized on a Cyclones turnover for an easy breakaway goal.  With a 7-1 deficit, a comeback was pretty much out of reach.  However, that didn’t stop the Cyclones from continuing to press offensively.  During a four-minute power play, Cincinnati was able to cash in twice on two point shots.  J.C. Sawyer netted the second Cincinnati goal at 10:42, blasting a slap shot over the stick-side shoulder of Cousineau.  Then, just 58 seconds later, T.J. Fast netted a similar marker to make the score 7-3 in favor of Elmira – which is how the game finished on the scoreboard.

The Cyclones managed to go 2-for-4 on the power play tonight.  Elmira finished 2-for-10.  Like the scoreboard, the shots-on-goal totals were equally as lopsided.  The Jackals outshot the Cyclones 44-16 in the season opener.