Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 11, 1995 TAG: 9503140064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Roanoke Express battered its way to the top Friday night.
The Express gained sole possession of first place in the East Coast Hockey League's East Division for the first time this season by blasting the Greensboro Monarchs 5-1 in a vicious game before a crowd of 6,088 at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Roanoke (37-16-9), which tied a franchise record with its sixth victory, entered the game tied with Richmond, which lost 3-2 at Hampton Roads on Friday. The Express has won 11 of its past 12 games.
Roanoke goalie Daniel Berthiaume won his 11th consecutive decision, one short of the ECHL record for consecutive victories. Berthiaume will have a chance to tie that record if he plays tonight against Hampton Roads at 7:30 at the civic center.
``We'll talk about that streak tomorrow night,'' said Berthiaume, who has given up two goals or fewer in 12 of his past 13 games. His record improved to 19-2-2 on the season, 13-1-1 with the Express.
Friday's game featured several stellar performances: Berthiaume extended his streak, defenseman Jon Larson recorded his first hat trick as a pro and Jason Clarke continued his pursuit of the league record for penalty minutes in a season.
``Those first two stats are the most important,'' said Clarke, who got into a pair of fights and earned 25 penalty minutes during his night's work. His 425 penalty minutes rank third in ECHL history, 18 behind the record set by Knoxville's Grant Chorney in 1992-93.
``The last thing on my mind is the penalty-minutes record,'' Clarke said. ``The team comes first. The penalty minutes just happen.''
Penalty minutes happened all night long. The two teams - who may have met for the last time, should Greensboro join the American Hockey League next season - combined for 184 penalty minutes, 106 of those assessed to the Monarchs. The game also featured 20 major penalties. Six game misconducts were handed out.
``In terms of purity of the game, it was not very good hockey,'' said Frank Anzalone, Roanoke's coach. ``But our guys hustled and stayed as disciplined as they could. They only stood up when they had to. That's Greensboro's style of hockey, though. It's not the right style, it's not the wrong style. That's just the way it goes.''
Things were going well all night for Larson, who could score without even trying. He completed the hat trick by floating a 70-foot shot past Greensboro goalie Peter Skudra, who had just entered the game.
Actually, Larson was trying to leave the ice and merely dump the puck into the Monarchs' zone. But his shot glanced off Skudra's glove and into the goal to give the Express a 4-0 lead at the 1:58 mark of the third period.
``I have no idea how that happened,'' Larson said. ``I was just trying to dump the puck in and get off the ice [because] I was so tired. When I got to the bench, the first thing coach said was, `That was a bad dump.'''
Jeff Jestadt put the Express ahead 5-0 with a power-play goal. The Monarchs avoided the shutout when Hugo Proulx scored a power-play goal with 1:16 left in the game. It was the first power-play goal given up by Roanoke since the second period of the Richmond game on Feb.28 The Express had killed 21 consecutive penalties.
``The win is more important,'' Berthiaume said. ``The shutout's not.''
by CNB