Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 20, 1994 TAG: 9402190151
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Averill, who played for Richmond last season, snapped out of a 32-game scoring slump with a pair of goals, propelling the Express to a crucial 5-2 victory over the Renegades on Friday night before a crowd of 5,869 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
The victory moved Roanoke (29-21-3) two points ahead of South Carolina (27-21-5), a 5-3 loser in Knoxville on Friday, and into sole possession of fifth place in the East Coast Hockey League's East Division.
The loss was a critical blow to the playoff hopes of Richmond (23-22-5). The Renegades trail South Carolina by eight points in the battle for the final spot in the 16-team playoffs.
The Renegades can thank Averill, in part, for their unenviable position.
"It was a big game for us to put some ground between us and Richmond," Averill said. "I still like most of the guys on the Richmond team, but, yeah, it is nice to do this against them. I'm just glad to do it against somebody.
"It was a big win for us. We're looking up [in the standings] now; we're not looking behind us."
Since Dec. 14, Averill has been looking in vain for the net. The defenseman had failed to score on 72 consecutive shots.
"It's about time," Averill said. "It had been awhile, hadn't it?"
Both of Averill's goals came as part of a Roanoke power-play unit that had misfired on its past 23 man-advantage situations at home before Friday.
"We read where Frank [Anzalone, the Express' coach] said our power play was atrocious, and he was right," Averill said. "We have the skill here to do a lot better than that."
Averill's two goals put the Renegades to bed. The first one - a 40-foot blast with 3 seconds left in the second period, gave Roanoke a 4-2 lead. His second, a 20-foot wrist shot off a faceoff with 8 minutes, 31 seconds left, sewed up the victory.
"If Will hits the net, he has a chance to score," Anzalone said. "He's got a very hard shot; he just misses the net a lot. He's just been very inaccurate.
"The two power-play goals, although they weren't off power-play plays, may lend some encouragement. That's all you need sometimes."
Things started well enough for the Renegades, who rolled into town with nine victories and two ties in their previous 12 games.
Express-killer Guy Phillips put Richmond on top 1-0 at the 9:28 mark of the first period. Phillips punctuated a five-on-three Richmond advantage, set up by concurrent minor penalties to Jeff Jestadt and Dan Ryder, by walking in alone on the left side and ripping a 15-footer into the net.
The Richmond lead lasted only 13 seconds. With the Express still one man short from the pair of penalties, Oleg Yashin slipped behind the Renegades' defense and beat goalie Jon Gustafson on a beautiful breakaway move.
The first of Pat Ferschweiler's two goals gave Roanoke a 2-1 lead heading to the locker room.
After Richmond drew even at 2 on another power-play goal - Brendan Flynn tipped Alan Schuler's drive up and over one of Ryder's shoulders - the Express got to Renegades goalie Milan Hnilicka, who replaced Gustafson after one period.
After Hnilicka stopped Ilja Dubkov from close range, the puck came to rest in the crease behind the Richmond goalie. While Hnilicka searched in vain for the puck, Ferschweiler charged in and poked it over the goal line to give Roanoke a 3-2 lead.
Averill took care of the rest, doubling his season's scoring output in a 11:32 span.
"Finally," Averill said with a sigh. "You begin to wonder if you're ever going to to score again."
\ ICE CHIPS: The Express came out of the game banged up. Leading point man Tony Szabo went down on Roanoke's first power play, suffering a bruised right knee. "Thank goodness it's not real serious," Anzalone said. "We can't afford to lose any more skill people, especially after losing Lev Berdichevsky [signed by Adirondack of the AHL earlier this week]." Szabo's status is questionable for tonight's game with Hampton Roads at the civic center. . . . Phillips extended his points streak to 18 games - the longest current run in the ECHL. The center has 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) during that span. In six games vs. Roanoke, Phillips has nine goals and 10 assists. . . . The contest was much cleaner than the clubs' last meeting - a 199-penalty minute matchup in Roanoke on Dec. 30. There were 32 penalty minutes and one fight - a bruiser between the Renegades' Eric Germain and the Express' Reggie Brezeault late in the second period. . . . The Express has topped 5,000 in attendance 10 times in 26 home dates. Another big number is forecast for tonight's meeting with Hampton Roads.
by CNB