THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702010619
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 62 lines
If Knoxville Cherokees goalie Brad Guzda had known what kind of night he was in for against the Hampton Roads Admirals on Friday, he could have commemorated the occasion by painting a bulls-eye on those lily-white pads he wore.
The Admirals fired 28 shots at Guzda - scoring on seven - before chasing him at the end of the second period of a 9-3 walloping at sold-out Scope. It was their highest scoring output of the season and eased some of the sting from Wednesday's home loss to Huntington.
``I think we spilled a lot of emotion out there tonight,'' said Admirals forward Rod Taylor, who had two goals and two assists. ``We played pretty well the whole game. We played as a team, and that's a good sign when you do that coming off a loss.''
It should have been more difficult for the Admirals, because they were playing shorthanded. In addition to forward Ryan Mulhern, who was attending the funeral of his grandmother, the Admirals were without center Andy Wiedenbach, who was called up to Cleveland Friday morning.
They also played slightly less than half the game without center Randy Pearce. He and Knoxville's Darren Johnson were handed game misconducts after a second-period altercation. Hampton Roads also lost Victor Gervais to a game misconduct after he and Guzda slashed at each other late in the second period.
It didn't matter. By the time Gervais left, he had scored one goal and assisted on another. The Admirals were comfortably ahead 7-2.
Gervais started the scoring, with assists from Taylor and Rick Kowalsky. Alain Savage then had the hustle goal of the night. He shadowed Sverre Sears as Sears tried to carry the puck in front of Guzda. Savage flicked the puck away from Sears and put it past Guzda, all in one motion.
Barely two minutes later, Dominic Maltais made it 3-0 with the first of his two goals.
With the Admirals up 5-2 with less than five minutes to go in the second period, Joel Poirier scored his second goal of the period, off another assist from Gervais and Alexei Krivchenkov. Thirty-four seconds later, Maltais scored again to make it 7-2.
The next time Gervais skated past Guzda, the goalie speared him. Gervais gave him a quick whip with his stick, forcing the officials to keep the two apart.
``Actually, I thought it might get more out of hand than that,'' Gervais said. ``That's the style they play anyway, and I was surprised it stayed as calm as it did.''
Guzda's replacement, Sergei Tkachenko, surrendered Taylor's second goal of the game on the second shot he faced. He also allowed a shorthanded goal to Chad Ackerman. The defenseman was pressed into service up front because of the absences of Mulhern and Wiedenbach, his first action at forward in more than four years.
Admirals coach John Brophy called Ackermann's performance ``super,'' though he had encouraging words for the entire team.
``A lot more determined tonight,'' Brophy said. ``It was a good win for us. I thought we were pretty sharp in all phases.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by L. TODD SPENCER
The Admirals' Alexei Krivchenkov knocks Knoxville's Jamie Bird out
of the way...