Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 2, 1995 TAG: 9501170023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
Dave Gagnon saved 28 of 30 Greensboro shots as the Express defeated the Monarchs 4-2 on Sunday to extend its club-record winning streak to six games.
The loss was the Monarchs' fourth in a row and eighth in their past 11 games.
Roanoke broke on top with only 1 minute, 11 seconds gone in the game, when Greensboro defenseman Chad Seibel whiffed on a puck near center ice, leaving the Express' Jon Larson with a breakaway. Larson capitalized by beating Monarchs goalie John Tanner from point-blank range.
That would be the only scoring for the next 30 minutes-plus of ice time. The period ended with Roanoke up 1-0 and the Monarchs with only seven shots on goal.
Greensboro had numerous scoring opportunities in the second period, outshooting the Express 16-5 and controlling the puck from net to net. But all of the Monarchs' attempts either were thwarted by Gagnon or missed the net.
The period's only score came late, when Roanoke's Jason Clarke knocked the puck past Tanner through a logjam in front of the Greensboro goal just as an Express power play ended.
With 1:41 gone in the final period, Monarchs center Glenn Stewart took a pass from defenseman Artur Kupacs in front of the Roanoke goal and beat Gagnon to cut the Greensboro deficit to a goal.
Midway through the period, the Monarchs lost player-assistant coach Phil Berger to a knee injury. Berger was skating near center ice when he was caught by the knee of an Express player and went down. He did not return to the ice.
Less than a minute later, Roanoke appeared to put away the game when Stephane Desjardins took a hard slap shot from just inside the Greensboro blue line. Tanner blocked the shot with his chest, but the puck flipped high in the air and landed behind the goalie and in the net to give the Express a 3-1 lead.
Stewart came back with his second goal of the period, beating Gagnon at the 14:46 mark to cut the Monarchs' deficit to one goal again and create some late-game drama.
Roanoke survived Greensboro's flurry, getting an empty-net goal from Larson with 54 seconds left after Monarchs coach Jeff Brubaker replaced Tanner with an extra attacker.
The victory moved the Express (19-7-4) back into a second-place tie with Charlotte (19-10-4) in the ECHL's East Division, although Roanoke has three games in hand on the Checkers. The Express trails first-place Richmond by one point and has played two fewer games than the Renegades.
``Murphy's law is all over us,'' Brubaker said. ``Our team right now is totally and completely snakebit. It's the worst it's ever been in six years.
``In this last losing streak, we haven't had a bad effort yet. But the other teams have played tremendously, and they've gotten great goaltending and great bounces. We haven't had a break yet.''
by CNB