Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 21, 1994 TAG: 9412210109
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Express, which had only 16 players in uniform, scored a franchise record-tying five power-play goals to beat the Checkers 6-3 before a crowd of 3,767 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
The suddenly electrified Express, which lost Jason Clarke to a two-game suspension and lost Pat Ferschweiler to the International Hockey League's Kansas City Blades last week, scored six goals for the second consecutive game and withstood Checkers center Darryl Noren's fourth hat trick in five games.
Even though Noren has been a one-man show of late for Charlotte, the Checkers were at a one-man disadvantage most of the night. Roanoke's lone even-strength goal came when Oleg Yashin scored on a shot that ricocheted off the skate of teammate Ilya Dubkov, who had fallen in the crease.
That made it 3-2 and gave Roanoke (26-14-7) a lead it never relinquished.
Yashin finished with two goals and Derek Laxdal, Craig Herr, Rouslan Toujikov and Jeff Jestadt notched one each.
``Everyone's contributing,'' Laxdal said. ``Everybody who hadn't been scoring goals before is scoring goals now.''
Roanoke, which trails second-place Charlotte by two points in the ECHL's East Division, entered the game with a power-play percentage of 21.9 percent.
``People made wise plays'' on the power plays, said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``We showed discipline tonight. We didn't throw the puck around like it was a hot potato. That shows the work ethic of this team.''
The most crucial point in the game came midway through the second period, when Charlotte frittered away a five-minute major penalty called against Roanoke's Mark Luger for high-sticking Joe Hawley. Luger also received a game misconduct and Hawley got two minutes for high-sticking on the same play. The Checkers were set for a three-minute power play, but it never materialized. Interference penalties against Charlotte's Jay Ness and Dan Murphy 21/2 minutes apart allowed the Express to survive Luger's penalty.
``We took ourselves right out of the game,'' said John Marks, the Checkers' coach.
``I thought we played pretty well when we were five-on-five. Four-on-five made me sick, though. Our penalty-killing was God awful. A team that gives up five power-play goals doesn't deserve to win.''
The Express also was buoyed by the return of goalie Dan Ryder, who gave Dave Gagnon a much-needed rest. Gagnon had started eight consecutive games before Tuesday. Ryder, who recently returned from a week-long stay with Kansas City in the IHL, finished with 23 saves.
``I felt a little rusty, but not too bad,'' Ryder said. ``This is the best the guys have ever played. They made a goalie's job easy. We were totally solid.''
Roanoke held a 2-1 lead after one period by making good on both of its power-play opportunities in quick order. Only 28 seconds after Hawley was penalized for tripping, Roanoke went ahead 1-0 at the 6:58 mark when Laxdal scored on a point-blank shot. Laxdal picked up the puck after Jestadt's shot from the right side was deflected by Checkers goalie Rob Tallas.
Noren countered with his first goal of the night at the 11:51 mark by blasting a shot from the right circle over the catching glove of Ryder.
Roanoke killed a Charlotte power play after Toujikov was called for hooking, then converted on its second power play of the period. Ten seconds after a hooking penalty called on Charlotte's Steve Norton gave Roanoke a four-on-three opportunity, Luger made a nifty back-door pass to Yashin, who scored to make it 2-1 at the 17:13 mark.
Noren notched the hat trick in the third when he scored from the slot while falling.
by CNB