GAME THREE – ROAD WARRIORS HOME 

GREENVILLE, SC – Tonight the Greenville Road Warriors host the Elmira Jackals in their first ever home playoff game at 7:35 p.m. at the BI-LO Center. The best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series is tied at one game apiece.

RECAPPING THE ACTION:

4/5/11 – GRW 5 – ELM 2

The Greenville Road Warriors had a strong effort on the power play and took a 1-0 series lead for their efforts. Scores by Jimmy Kilpatrick and Brandon Wong in the first period staked Greenville to a 2-0 advantage in the game. Kilpatrick’s goal came with a 5-on-3 advantage and Wong scored with one second left in a 5-on-4. Elmira’s Justin Donati trimmed the lead to one early in the second but Brendan Connolly and Mark Voakes tallied for Greenville to pad the lead to 4-1 heading into the third. Nic Riopel notched 13 saves on 14 shots to keep Greenville comfortably ahead and Marc-Olivier Vallerand potted an empty-net goal with 16 seconds remaining to seal the win.

4/6/11 – GRW 3 – ELM 6

The Road Warriors were shorthanded a season-high 11 times and could not overcome the Jackals’ offensive firepower which left the series even at one game each. After Eric Lampe opened the scoring just over five minutes in, the Road Warriors answered with first-period goals by Brendan Connolly (PP) and Sam Klassen to take a 2-1 lead. That lasted until the final minutes of the second when Justin Donati knotted the game at two each. In the third, Elmira scored four times, including two empty-netters and a 5-on-3 PPG, and the Road Warriors could not rally from the deficit. Mark Voakes brought the Road Warriors within one at 18:25 but that was as close as they would get. Nic Riopel sustained the loss while making 25 saves.

WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:

The Greenville Road Warriors and Elmira Jackals tangle in Game Three of their best-of-five Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series tonight. The Road Warriors earned a split of the first two games in Elmira with a 5-2 win in Game One and a 6-3 loss in Game Two. Greenville has been shorthanded for a total of 16 times in the series including 11 times in Game Tow. The Road Warriors are 15-for-16 on the penalty kill in the series. The Road Warriors finished the regular season as the Eastern Conference’s top seed with a 46-22-4 record while Elmira was eighth at 32-30-10.

Greenville ranks second in the league in power play percentage during the playoffs at 40 percent. They are also tops with four power play goals in two games. They are fifth in the league on the penalty kill at 93.8 percent and have allowed just one power play goal. However, the Road Warriors have been shorthanded more times, 16, than any other team in the playoffs. In the regular season Greenville was shorthanded the sixth fewest times in the league at 318 and had the sixth most power play chances at 349. Greenville’s 11 times shorthanded in Game Two were its most in the regular season or playoffs.

– 12 Road Warriors players are playing in the Kelly Cup Playoffs for the first time. Nine of those are rookies.

– Five of the seven first-round series in last year’s Kelly Cup Playoffs went all five games with the higher seed winning two.

– Greenville’s offense featured five different players that registered at least 50 points in the regular season. The only team with more was Kalamazoo (6).

– Greenville has scored at least one power play goal in each of its last three games. Including the regular season, the Road Warriors are 28-9-2 when scoring at least one PPG.

– The Road Warriors last lost back-to-back games on March 6 vs. Elmira and March 12 at Florida in overtime. Their longest losing streak in the regular season was three games (Jan. 6-8).

Join the Road Warriors tonight for their pre-game block party starting at 5:00 p.m. The party will take place on the plaza outside of the Charter Business Entrance at the BI-LO Center. Free food and half-priced beer will be available to anyone who has a ticket to the game. As a special treat, RetroVertigo, will be performing a free concert at the block party. The Road Warriors would like to thank Quaker Steak and Lube for providing the food for tonight’s block party. Individual tickets are on sale right now at the BI-LO Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets, and start as low as $9. The Spinx Friday Family Four-Pack is also available which features four tickets, four hot dogs, four soft drinks, four bags of chips, and four pretzels for just $48!