Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 12, 1995 TAG: 9502130054
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Jeff Jestadt gave the Roanoke Express all the assists it would need. The one the Express got from Erie didn't hurt, though.
Jestadt set a team record with five assists as Roanoke dumped the Erie Panthers 6-2 on Saturday night before a crowd of 7,599 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Ilya Dubkov had two goals and two assists for the Express (26-14-8), which got some unneeded assistance when Erie (14-37-3) knocked the puck into its own net in the first period of the East Coast Hockey League game.
The victory also marked the Roanoke debut of new Express goalie Daniel Berthiaume, who stopped 26 Erie shots. Berthiaume, a former NHL player who was traded to the Express by Erie this week when he wouldn't report to the Panthers, was expected to be given the night off.
In a way, he was. Roanoke outshot Erie 48-28 and scored the game's first four goals. The Panthers, whose only victory in their past 19 games came against the Express on Jan.22, watched their winless streak grow to 10 games and their road winless streak to 14 games.
Erie's last victory came Jan.22, when the Panthers beat Roanoke 5-4 by scoring three times in the third period.
``The theory I heard today was, `We owe them one,''' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``I corrected that by telling the players, `We owe ourselves one. We owe it to ourselves to play better.'''
Still, the 5-4 loss in Erie haunted Roanoke's players.
``We let the game slip away in Erie,'' said defenseman Dave Stewart. ``We lost because of undisciplined play and undisciplined penalties. We didn't want a repeat of that in front of a big crowd tonight.''
That didn't happen. Roanoke held a 4-0 lead after one period and went on cruise control the rest of the way.
The Express outshot the Panthers 19-1 in the first period. Erie's total didn't include its best attempt - a shot that landed in its own net, meaning it fired as many shots at its own goalie as it did at Berthiaume.
With Roanoke already on a power play, Erie defenseman Jason Smith virtually gave the Express a two-man advantage when he tried to pass the puck to goalie Francis Ouellette, but hit it too hard and knocked it into the net.
The goal officially was credited to the Express' Joe Hawley, since he was the last Roanoke player to possess the puck, and made it 4-0.
Roanoke's first three goals came in a span of 7 minutes, 31 seconds, with two coming 62 seconds apart. Dubkov scored first at the 6:49 mark by sticking in the rebound of a Jestadt shot.
``Last year, I had twice as many goals as assists,'' said Jestadt, whose 43 goals led the Express. ``For me to get five in one game is unheard of. Obviously, I couldn't have done it without guys putting the puck in the net.''
Jestdat picked up assists on the next two goals, as Dubkov scored again off a rebound with 6:42 left in the period and Michael Smith made it 3-0 by tucking a shot from the side just inside the left post with 5:40 left.
He got his fourth assist in the second period by feeding the puck to Dubkov, whose centering pass allowed Craig Herr to shoot high over Ouellette's left shoulder to make it 5-0.
``It's about time he started passing the puck,'' Herr said kiddingly within earshot of Jestadt.
Assist No.5 came on a power play in the third period when Stewart scored on a slap shot to make it 6-1.
Erie avoided the shutout when Cam Brown took a left-to-right pass from Sverre Sears and wristed a shot behind Berthiaume. Smith made it 6-2 when he scored a power-play goal with 5:21 left in the game.
ICE CHIPS: Roanoke played without player-assistant coach Derek Laxdal, who suffered a bruised knee in Friday's victory at Charlotte. He is questionable for today's 3 p.m. game against the Wheeling Thunderbirds at the civic center. ... Two of the biggest guns in the ECHL were knocked out of action this week. Greensboro's Phil Berger, the league's all-time leading points scorer, injured a knee and may be out for the season. Trevor Jobe, the all-time leading goal-scorer, was suspended by Raleigh for leaving the team for personal reasons. Richmond's Scott Gruhl, another ECHL legend, broke his right ankle recently and may be done for the season.
by CNB