GREENVILLE, SC – The Greenville Road Warriors earned seven out of a possible eight points in their games last week to improve their standing atop the South Division. This week features plenty of new faces at the BI-LO Center as the Road Warriors play host to a pair of brand new opponents; the Trenton Devils and Elmira Jackals.
Record: 35-20-3, 73 pts., 1st place South Division
Leaders:
Goals – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 21
Assists – Mark Voakes: 37
Points – Mark Voakes: 53
+/- – Brendan Connolly: +19
PIMs – T.J. Reynolds: 176
PPG – Jimmy Kilpatrick: 7
SHG – Marc-Olivier Vallerand: 4
Wins – Nic Riopel: 17
GAA – Dov Grumet-Morris: 2.32
SVP – Dov Grumet-Morris: .922
This Week:
3/4 vs. Trenton, 7:05 p.m. – Home (0-0-0), Away (0-0-0)
Friday night marks the first-ever meeting, and only one of the season, between the Road Warriors and Trenton Devils. Trenton is the second Atlantic Division team the Road Warriors have faced this season after going 1-1-0 against the Reading Royals in Reading in late January. The Devils feature the ECHL’s third-highest scorer in Ryan Ginand who is having a breakout season in his second year as a pro. He has already established new career highs in goals (25), assists, (38), and points (63). The Devils have played the South Division tough this season and have a 3-5-4 record against the other teams in Greenville’s division. The Devils boast a solid offensive attack and average 3.14 goals per game, but have also given up the second-most goals in the league so far with 208 (3.65 per game).
3/5 & 3/6 vs. Elmira, 7:05 & 4:05 p.m. – Home (0-0-0), Away (0-0-0) The Road Warriors welcome the Elmira Jackals on Saturday and Sunday for the only two meetings of the season between the clubs. Elmira is scrapping for one of the final playoff spots in the Eastern Conference and enters the week ranked seventh in the conference. Elmira has surged with new coach Robbie Nichols behind the bench after Malcolm Cameron was relieved of his duties last week. Nichols led the Jackals to wins in each of their three games last weekend including a 5-4 third-period comeback against the league-leading Reading Royals. Elmira will test the Road Warriors’ defense with the league’s top offense at 3.64 goals per game, but could struggle to contain Greenville’s offense as the Jackals give up 3.64 goals per game. Justin Donati is the catalyst to Elmira’s offense and ranks second in the league with 73 points (19G, 54A).
Day by Day:
Mon. 2/28: Off
Tues. 3/1: Off
Wed. 3/2: Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Thurs. 3/4: Practice at BI-LO Center, 10:00 a.m.
Fri. 3/5: Road Warriors vs. Devils, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 3/6: Road Warriors vs. Jackals, 7:05 p.m.
Sun. 3/7: Road Warriors vs. Jackals, 4:05 p.m.
Day-by-Day schedule subject to change.
Broadcast Schedule:
Fri. 3/5: Road Warriors vs. Devils, 7:05 p.m.
Sat. 3/6: Road Warriors vs. Jackals, 7:05 p.m.
Sun. 3/7: Road Warriors vs. Jackals, 4:05 p.m.
All Road Warriors radio broadcasts can be heard online for free courtesy of America One. Point your browser to www.greenvilleroadwarriors.com and click “Listen Live” to join Ray Schmitt on the broadcasts. Road Warriors fans can also watch Internet TV broadcasts of the games by clicking here. All broadcasts begin 15 minutes prior to face off with the Road Warriors Pregame Show. Fans can also email Radio Ray and have their questions read during the broadcast! Send your questions to grwradioray@gmail.com.
Last Week: (3-0-1)
2/22 vs. Gwinnett: W 7-1
There were some tenuous moments in the first period last Tuesday as the Road Warriors gave an early 1-0 lead to the Gwinnett Gladiators, but everyone’s nerves were calmed by the end of the second. Pat Galivan beat Cameron Talbot, who was making his Road Warriors debut, with a backhand shot from the left wing at 12:54. Gwinnett took that lead into the first intermission, but did not sustain it for long in the second. A minute and 29 seconds into the middle frame Brandon Wong tied the game with his 18th of the season. Marc-Olivier Vallerand put Greenville in front at 11:31 with his 19th and the rout was on from there. Brad Cole stretched the lead to two a mere 30 seconds after Vallerand’s score and Wes Cunningham capped the scoring in the frame with his fourth at 15:59. Greenville wiped away any chance of drama in the game with three scores in the third period from Shane Harper (4:56, 14th), Vallerand (5:15, 20th), and Sean Berkstresser (4th, 9:18). Talbot registered 25 saves in earning the win.
2/25 at Cincinnati: OTL 3-4
The Road Warriors suffered one of their more heart-breaking setbacks on Friday night as they surrendered a late third-period lead and then faltered in overtime. The game marked the return to Cincinnati for Road Warriors head coach Dean Stork along with players Jimmy Kilpatrick, Mark Voakes, and Chris Clackson. In an emotional game, the Road Warriors were playing catch up for a majority of the game. Mathieu Aubin opened the scoring at 10:22 of the second, but Wes Cunningham answered back for Greenville 2:09 later. Cincinnati regained control at 1:19 of the third with a tap-in goal from Kevin Roeder. Limited to two shots for a majority of the period, it looked like Greenville’s ship was sunk until rookies Shane Harper (16:10, 14th) and Brandon Wong (16:56, 19th) rallied and gave the Road Warriors their first lead of the night. As time wound down it looked like a win was forthcoming, but Dustin Sproat redirected a shot from Barrett Ehgoetz past Cameron Talbot with 26 seconds left in regulation. In overtime, Greenville suffered a major setback when Wes Cunningham took an interference minor at 1:35, and Cincinnati’s T.J. Fast cashed in a power play goal to give the Cyclones the win.
2/26 at Toledo: W 3-0
The Road Warriors silenced a sellout crowd of 8,000 at the Huntington Center on Saturday night with a stifling defense and a 24-save performance by goalie Nic Riopel. The shutout was Riopel’s second of the season after blanking Florida in a 3-0 win on November 13. Two strikes in the first period put the Road Warriors firmly in control and prevented them from playing catch up hockey like they did in their first trip to Toledo. Jimmy Kilpatrick’s 12th goal of the season put the Road Warriors ahead 8:55 into the game. Marc-Olivier Vallerand scored a power play goal with 1:45 remaining in the first and made the lead more comfortable heading into the second. Riopel turned aside eight shots in the frame to keep the Road Warriors up by a pair heading into the third where Greenville out-shot Toledo 12-9 and never allowed for much of a comeback attempt. Andrew Rowe, in his second game with the Road Warriors, scored the goal that took the wind out of Toledo’s sails with a coast-to-coast rush at 11:44. The win gave Greenville a two-game sweep of its season series against Toledo.
2/27 at Wheeling: W 4-2
On Sunday the Road Warriors were playing their third game in three days (fourth in six) and were in their fourth city in six days. So it was understandable that the offense took a while to get going, but once it was on track the sailing was smooth. Wheeling took advantage of its first power play of the game with a goal from Sebastien Bisaillon at 11:18 of the first period. In that frame Greenville was limited to just four shots on goal to Wheeling’s nine and had trouble generating quality scoring chances. The shot total improved in the second period and Greenville had a 10-5 advantage in the period. Despite the heavier workload Wheeling’s Patrick Killeen held the Road Warriors at bay and forced Nic Riopel to be spot on with his five saves to keep his club within striking distance. And strike it did in the third. In the first 4:09 of the third the Road Warriors received goals from Sean Berkstresser (1:19, 5th), Brendan Connolly (2:39, 14th), and Mark Voakes (4:09, 16th) to vault into the lead. Wheeling’s offense could not strike again until just 26 seconds remained in regulation, but Connolly potted an empty-net goal first with 40 seconds left to salt away the victory. Riopel won his second straight start by notching 23 saves.
ONE-TIMERS:
Scoring Streaks:
Goals:
·
Assists:
· B. Parlett, 3 games (4A); 2/11-2/15
· J. Brouillette, 2 games (2A); 12/10-12/11
· S. Klassen, 3 games (3A); 2/25-2/27
· B. Wong, 2 games (2A); 2/26-2/27
Points:
· J. Brouillette, 2 games (2G, 2A); 12/10-12/11
· B. Parlett, 3 games (1G, 3A); 2/11-2/15
· B. Wong, 4 games (2G, 5A); 2/22-2/27
· S. Klassen, 3 games (3A); 2/25-2/27
· J. Kilpatrick, 4 games (1G, 3A); 2/22-2/27
· A. Rowe, 2 games (1G, 1A); 2/26-2/27
Quick Hits:
· Wes Cunningham picked up a nomination for Player of the Month for February with 12 points (4G, 8A) and a +11 rating in 14 games.
· The Road Warriors are averaging 4,235 fans per game in the 2011 portion of their schedule. They had their largest home crowd of the season with 6,388 on February 19, 2011.
· Greenville is the only team in the ECHL with a top-five offense (3.4 goals/game, 4th) and a top-five defense (2.71 goals against/game, 2nd).
· The Road Warriors scored 24 third-period goals in the month of February. They rank second in the league with 67 third-period goals this season.
· Seven of Greenville’s eight home games in March are against teams from outside the South Division. The Road Warriors have seven games left against the South Division out of the 14 games on their schedule.
Mark your calendars! Don’t forget about these upcoming promotions:
3/4 vs. Trenton, 7:05: The Road Warriors are hosting a special Church Night. The night includes group tickets starting as low as $7 for church groups of 10 or more. There will be a post-game concert on the ice featuring MyCalvary.
3/5 vs. Elmira, 7:05: The BI-LO Center will be going to the dogs when the Road Warriors host Dog Night/Grrrowl Night presented by Camp Bow-Wow. Fans can bring their dogs with them to the game and tennis balls will be given away courtesy of Dunlop. The Road Warriors will also honor former Greenville Grrrowl players prior to the game.
3/6 vs. Elmira, 4:05: Join us for the final post-game skate with the Road Warriors of the season. Ticket holders from the game can skate with the Road Warriors for free after the game, and those without skates can rent them from the BI-LO Center for $3.
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