
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, February 21, 1994                   TAG: 9402210197
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Staff report
DATELINE: NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

EXPRESS WINS IN SHOOTOUT

Oleg Yashin scored the tying goal with less than six minutes to go in the third period, then added the winner in a shootout as the Roanoke Express defeated the South Carolina Stingrays 5-4 on Sunday night in the East Coast Hockey League.

With the Express trailing 4-3 in the third period, forward Tom Holdeman stopped a Jim Sprott clearing attempt at the right point. Holdeman spotted Yashin at the edge of the crease, and the Russian's high forehand shot beat Stingrays goalie Bill Pye with 5 minutes, 51 seconds left in the period.

Yashin, Tony Szabo and Jeff Jestadt converted their attempts in the shootout. Roanoke goalie Dan Ryder stopped all three Stingrays he faced in the one-on-one tie-breaker.

With the victory, the Express (30-22-3) regained sole possession of fifth place in the ECHL East Division, one point ahead of South Carolina (28-21-6).

Szabo, with only one goal in his previous nine games, scored his 29th of the season during a first-period power play. When Trevor Burgess' blast from the point caromed off the end boards, Szabo one-timed the rebound past Pye from low in the left faceoff circle at 2:48 to open the scoring.

South Carolina's Dan Wiebe countered less than two minutes later, rotating with Gary Socha on a two-on-two break and beating Ryder with a wrist shot from 30 feet at 4:41.

With Roanoke center Reggie Brezeault in the penalty box for hooking, Sprott scored his fourth goal of the season. He used a Jason Winch screen of Ryder at 7:59 to make it 2-1 Stingrays.

Express defenseman Will Averill scored his third goal in three nights with a right-point drive as Ilja Dubkov imitated Winch's screen 43 seconds later.

With the Express holding a five-on-three advantage, Szabo once again corralled an errant drive from the point - this one off the stick of Averill - and beat Pye from the slot for his 30th of the season. That goal made it 3-2 at the end of the first period.

Winch scored the only goal of the second period, finishing a two-on-one rush by blowing past pinching defenseman Michael Smith at the blue line and beating Ryder to the glove side at 4:52. It was his 15th goal of the season.

Holdeman then was given a double-minor for wrestling with the Stingrays' Andy Bezeau, who received only a roughing minor. In addition, the Express bench was given a minor for slow play, giving South Carolina a five-on-three advantage for two minutes.

Sylvain Fleury put the Stingrays back into the lead 49 seconds into the third period, cruising right to left through the slot and scoring his 39th goal.

Minutes later, Dubkov was giving a hooking minor by referee Dean Warren, who again whistled a penalty on the Express bench. During the ensuing five-on-three power play, Ryder denied Mark Green three times and stopped Fleury from point-blank range.

Ryder gained his 21st victory of the season by stopping Green, Fleur and Eric Brule in the shootout. Pat Ferschweiler was the only one of four shooters to misfire for the Express in the tie-breaker.

by CNB