Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 28, 1995 TAG: 9501300052
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Earlier this season, Mike Dennis refused a trade to the Roanoke Express.
Friday night, he refused to lose to them.
Dennis scored in the 12th round of a shootout as the Johnstown Chiefs stunned the Express 4-3 before 5,654 spectators in the Roanoke Civic Center.
The victory ended an eight-game road winless streak for the Chiefs, who had not won away from home since Dec. 10.
The Express (21-13-6), which gained a point in the East Coast Hockey League East Division standings with the overtime loss, almost didn't make it to overtime. Express defenseman Jon Larson flipped in a rebound with 1 second left in regulation to tie the score 3-3 and send the game into overtime.
The result was another in a series of ugly defeats for the Express, which has won just twice in its past 10 games. Roanoke is now 4-0-7 in shootouts while Johnstown is 5-0-2.
After the game, Express head coach Frank Anzalone pulled his team out of the dressing room and back onto the ice for a short practice.
``More times than not, we have been mediocre,'' said Anzalone. ``We have discussed it, we have watched videotapes, but none of that's working. We need to get back to work ethic.''
The loss marked the third time in the past 13 days Roanoke has blown a third-period lead, something it had never done in franchise history until Jan. 14.
Neither team scored in the overtime, although Roanoke got a scare when Johnstown's Dennis Purdie hit the right post with a shot.
The teams scored two goals each in the five-round overtime shootout, sending the game to sudden-death rounds. A faceoff with nine seconds left began the final sequence of regulation events. Roanoke's Dave Stewart recovered the puck outside the left circle and fired upon Johnstown goalie Aaron Israel, who deflected the shot.
Larson scooped the puck out of a goal-mouth scuffle and looped a shot over Israel. The red light, which signals a goal, and the green light, signaling time had run out, illuminated simultaneously.
The Express led 2-0 after one period on goals by Craig Herr and Derek Laxdal, but Johnstown (17-21-4), which had the second-worst road record in the league before Friday, began chipping away with Rod Hinks' goal at the 17:27 mark of the second.
Jason Jennings tied it with a shot that bounced off Express goalie Dave Gagnon's chest and bounced into the goal with 6:45 left in regulation.
Two minutes later, Gagnon's high clearing pass was deflected by an opponent's stick and bounced right to Purdie, who converted to give the Chiefs a 3-2 lead.
Israel was a bane to the Express all night. Not only did he stop 10 of 12 shootout attempts, he snuffed out a pair of early breakaways that could have given Roanoke control.
``We're losing our focus,'' said Anzalone. ``We got into this ebb slowly, now we need to get out of it quickly.''
ICE CHIPS: Roanoke entertains Wheeling tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Civic Center. At 6:30 p.m., NASCAR driver Rick Mast of Rockbridge Baths will sign autographs in the Civic Center. ...The Express signed defenseman Ryan Schmidt of the Central Hockey League's Dallas Freeze on Friday.
by CNB