Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 27, 1995 TAG: 9503280027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
If the Roanoke Express had lost this game to the Knoxville Cherokees, it could have packed up and took off down its own trail of tears.
Jeff Jestadt scored in overtime to beat the Knoxville Cherokees 2-1 in Game 3 of the East Coast Hockey League's Riley Cup playoffs on Sunday at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum. Roanoke, which has a 2-1 lead in this best-of-five matchup, can wrap up the first-round series when the teams meet here again tonight.
Jestadt's goal saved the Express from what could have been a crushing loss, as Knoxville scored the tying goal with 28 seconds left in the third period.
``If we lose this one, it's the series,'' said Express goalie Daniel Berthiaume, stating a sentiment shared by other Roanoke players.
Berthiaume, who had given up five goals in Roanoke's 6-3 loss to the Cherokees in Game 2 on Saturday, had a lot to do with making sure Roanoke wasn't blown off the ice. He stopped 40 shots, including the first 33 he saw. He was 28 seconds away from his first shutout when Jim Brown popped in the tying score off a deflected pass.
``I made a few key saves tonight,'' Berthiaume said. ``I didn't make too many saves [on Saturday]. The guys supported me, so I had to support them.''
The winning goal came after Roanoke's Craig Herr took the puck from Knoxville's Mike Vandenberghe in the neutral zone and fired a pass to Jason Clarke along the right boards.
As two defenders converged on him, Clarke centered the puck to Jestadt, who was wide-open when he beat Knoxville goalie Cory Cadden over the right shoulder.
``Clarkie did his job,'' Jestadt said. ``He took the puck up the wall. There were a couple of guys there, but somehow I got in between 'em.''
The play was a personal redemption for Clarke, who blamed himself for not clearing the puck just before Knoxville scored its goal.
``I thought that was my fault,'' Clarke said. ``I had a chance to knock the puck up the ice. I didn't do it. The game should've never gone to overtime.''
Berthiaume was almost good enough to make a 1-0 lead stand.
The Cherokees pulled Cadden in favor of the extra skater, then won a faceoff in the Express zone. Clarke pinned the puck against the left boards, but Knoxville's David Neilson freed it, took it low and sent a pass that bounced right to Brown, who one-timed a shot just under the crossbar.
``I told the team, `Allow yourself 10 minutes to be down,''' said Frank Anzalone, Roanoke's coach. ``That's normal. Then I told them we could go out there and get a goal.''
Roanoke took a 1-0 lead when Derek Laxdal drilled home a cross-crease centering pass from Ilya Dubkov with 31 seconds left in the first period. The goal came five seconds after the Express' only power play of the period had ended.
The Cherokees, meanwhile, had three consecutive power plays in the period covering a stretch of 5:45, but they couldn't solve Berthiaume. Seven of Berthiaume's 13 first-period saves came when Knoxville had a manpower advantage.
``Danny was focused tonight,'' Anzalone said. ``We don't win this game without his goaltending.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB