Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 11, 1995 TAG: 9501110093
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Express fell behind by three goals in the first period and extended its winless streak to three games as red-hot Hampton Roads won a franchise-record eighth consecutive game 4-3 before a crowd of 4,796 at the Roanoke Civic Center on Thursday night.
The civic center ice was particularly rough, probably because it was less than two days old (the ice was melted to make way for a gun show during the weekend). Play had to be stopped twice in the first period to fix rough spots along the boards.
The ice was far from pristine. Due to a ruptured water line outside the civic center, the ice was marred with dingy, brown streaks. Fittingly, the Express, which has had some dirty on-ice encounters with the Admirals, appeared to be skating in mud in the early going.
Hampton Roads dictated the action early by keeping the puck in its zone and by forechecking the Express back to I-581. Less than 13 minutes into the game, the Admirals led 3-0, Express goalie Dan Ryder was pulled and a rout appeared inevitable.
Then, the hockey game broke out. The Express shut down the Admirals, save for a crucial third-period goal, but couldn't generate power-play juice.
``You can't fall behind 3-0 against any team,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``We're in a storm right now.''
Roanoke (19-8-5), which fell into fourth place in the ECHL's East Division, was wounded by Hampton Roads' first three goals. It was the last goal by the Admirals (21-11-3), however, that really sunk Roanoke's ship.
When Rod Taylor beat Express backup goalie John Bradley with a wraparound to make it 4-2 with 7 minutes, 48 seconds left, matters appeared to be in hand.
Three minutes later, Roanoke's Ilya Dubkov launched a forehand from 25 feet away that sailed over goalie Corwin Saurdiff's shoulder and beneath the crossbar to cut the deficit to one.
Anzalone pulled Bradley with a minute to play in favor of a sixth attacker, Jon Larson, but the Express couldn't convert. It was indicative of Roanoke's other one-man advantages, as the Express finished 2-for-8 on power plays.
``When you fall behind like that, and your power play's not clicking, you can't come back,'' said Anzalone, whose team plays at Greensboro tonight. ``This is a bad loss, not a tough loss, a bad loss. A bad, bad loss ... We came out and looked like we were in awe.''
The Admirals wasted no time in torpedoing the Express by scoring 27 seconds after the opening faceoff. As Roanoke's Marty Schriner and Jason Clarke leveled Hampton Roads defenseman Chris Phelps on the right wing, the Admirals' Rick Kowalsky recovered the puck and knocked a shot under Ryder's catching glove.
The Express blew a five-on-three power-play opportunity before the Admirals converted their first extra-man goal as John Porco stuck in a rebound at the 9:22 mark.
Three minutes later, Matt Mallgrave slipped a shot under Ryder's glove to make it 3-0. Ryder was hit with 16 shots in the first 121/2 minutes. Bradley saw 16 the rest of the night.
Oleg Yashin cut the Express' deficit to a goal with the most dazzling shot of the night off a power play. The Russian took a pass from Dubkov on the fly, flicked the puck from backhand to forehand and went over Saurdiff's right shoulder to make it 3-2.
The Express began its comeback try moments after falling down by three goals. Tony Szabo stole the puck in the Express end, fired a pass to Dubkov, who in turn got the puck to Jeff Jestadt, whose left-handed shot beat Saurdiff to make it 3-1 at the 13:36 mark.
ICE CHIPS: The Express is working with an independent television production company in hopes of getting its Feb.4 game at Charlotte televised locally. ... The Express waived defenseman Andrei Kozlov to make room for Szabo on the roster.
by CNB