Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 9, 1994 TAG: 9401090114
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: JOHNSTOWN, PA. LENGTH: Medium
Michael Smith broke down the left wing on a three-man rush with Ferschweiler and Tony Szabo. Smith dropped a pass to Szabo, who fired a shot into the chest of Chiefs goalie Rob Laurie. Ferschweiler, crashing the net with Smith, lifted the rebound just under the crossbar for his 16th goal of the season.
The victory was the third in as many games for Roanoke (19-16-1), which will look to extend its eight-game home winning streak Tuesday night against Charlotte. The Express is 4-0 in sudden death overtime, 0-1 in shootouts.
Roanoke led 3-1 after two periods, but the Chiefs (21-13-2) responded with a three-goal third period, highlighted by Bob Woods' tying goal with 18 seconds to play.
Szabo opened the scoring 2:36 into the game, intercepting Jamie Adams' clearing attempt in the slot and quickly beating Laurie with a backhand shot. The goal extended Szabo's point-scoring streak to 15 games.
Dennis Purdie tied the score less than a minute later, deflecting Woods' centering pass past goalie Dan Ryder at 3:28.
Oleg Yashin countered with his first of two goals in the game, slapping a shot past Laurie at 7:00 after stealing the puck from Chiefs defenseman Martin D'Orsonnens.
After Roanoke killed a two-man advantage for 1:43 early in the second period, Ilja Dubkov took a Roger Larche feed at the top of the right faceoff circle and blasted a shot over Laurie at 1:03 to give the Express a 3-1 advantage heading into the third period.
Johnstown came out flying in the third period and reaped the rewards of continuous pressure as Purdie beat Ryder with the rebound of a shot by Perry Florio at 6:09, cutting the margin to 3-2.
Woods then tied the score with 7:58 remaining in the period, parking next to the crease and stuffing home a Purdie centering pass for his 16th goal of the season, tops among all ECHL defensemen.
Yashin catapulted the Express into a short-lived 4-3 lead with barely three minutes remaining in regulation time, using Ferschweiler as a decoy on a two-on-one and sliding a backhand shot under Laurie at 16:33.
After the Express killed a late roughing penalty on defenseman Will Averill, Chiefs coach Eddie Johnstone replaced Laurie with a sixth attacker. The strategy worked, as Woods converted yet another rebound, this one off a shot by Bruce Coles at 19:42.
by CNB