Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993 TAG: 9311030191
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Chalk up Tuesday night as Roanoke's first old-fashioned rear-end kicking.
In what amounted to another Election Night no-contest, the Express put the wood to the derrieres of the Erie Panthers 9-2 before a crowd of 3,621 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Roanoke (4-3) established club records for shots (50) and goals (nine) in the most lopsided victory in its brief history.
"It's nice to bury somebody," said Express general manager Pierre Paiement, marveling at his outfit's domination.
Russian Ilja Dubkov carried the biggest pick and shovel for Roanoke. The 21-year-old center ripped through the Panthers' Swiss-cheese defense, scoring two goals and recording four assists for a club-record six points.
Forward Gerry Daley added two goals, and Dave "Moose" Morissette, Jeff Jestadt, Lev Berdichevsky, Tony Szabo and Oleg Yashin had one apiece.
As far as the crowd was concerned, Yashin's goal was the biggest. It was the Express' eighth goal, which made every fan's ticket stub worth a free meal at Pizza Hut.
"We win big and our fans get fed ," Morissette said. "You can't beat that, can you?"
If the Express keeps rolling like this, the resident Pizza Hut cooks may soon be calling in sick on Tuesday nights.
Pressing from the opening faceoff, Roanoke jumped on top 3-0 in the game's first 15 minutes, 44 seconds on Daley's power-play ringer off the left post, a Morissette wraparound shot and Jestadt's backhander.
Leading 4-0 after Dubkov's score at 9:53 of the second, the Express hit its only lull. Erie's Stephane Charbonneau cashed in a pair of Roanoke turnovers to score twice in 4:08 to make it 4-2.
But Szabo declawed the Panthers' comeback, rifling a 30-foot wrist shot past goalie Mark Bernard with 54 seconds left in the period.
A four-goal third period put the exclamation point on the Roanoke rout.
"It was a solid effort," said Frank Anzalone, the Express coach. "You've got to get it done at home in this league and try to sneak a few on the road. That's the key to being successful in this league."
Goalie Dan Ryder, returning from a one-game suspension, picked up his third victory against no losses, turning aside 24 shots.
\ ICE CHIPS: The Express' Russian Connection - Dubkov, Berdichevsky and Yashin - combined for four goals and eight assists. . . . Daley has scored five goals in seven games. In 117 games at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, the forward had 23 goals. . . . The Election Night crowd of 3,621 surpassed the 3,576 for the regular-season opener Oct. 19. . . . Roanoke is 3-0 at home. . . . After a morning skate at the civic center, the Express takes off for Charlotte, N.C., where it meets the Checkers tonight. The Express' first and only road victory was in Charlotte on Thursday. After a Friday game in Raleigh, N.C., the Express gets a rare weekend off before entertaining Charlotte on Nov. 9.
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB