Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 28, 1995 TAG: 9503280084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
Like a factory worker who puts in some extra hours today in exchange for a day off tomorrow, the Roanoke Express once again worked overtime to avoid having to go the distance in East Coast Hockey League playoffs.
Ilya Dubkov scored a goal 35 seconds into overtime as the Express wrapped up the first round of the ECHL's Riley Cup playoffs with a 5-4 victory over the Knoxville Cherokees on Monday night.
The Express won the best-of-five series 3-1. Roanoke advances to the second round, where it will meet the Richmond Renegades in a series that will begin Friday or Saturday in Richmond. The Renegades finished a three-game sweep of Columbus with a 6-1 victory Monday.
The victory was Roanoke's second in overtime in as many nights. The Express won 2-1 on Sunday when Jeff Jestadt scored nearly seven minutes into the extra period.
``I'm happy we got this one over quick,'' said Frank Anzalone, Roanoke's coach. ``I couldn't stand much more tension.''
The Express becomes the first Roanoke Valley hockey team to win a playoff series since the Vinton-based Virginia Lancers advanced to the second round of the All-American Hockey League playoffs in 1988.
The Express rolls on thanks to Dubkov, who scored four goals in the series. The fourth was the biggest, as he took a pass from Michael Smith, skated around the defense and lifted a shot just over Knoxville goalie Cory Cadden while coming back across the ice.
``It's my move,'' Dubkov said. ``I skate across [the] blue line [and] go around [the] defense [and] roof it. It's my move.''
It was a good series for Dubkov, but a painful one. In Game 2, he took a puck to the face that left a gash requiring 24 stitches. In Game 1, Darwin McClelland needed 14 stitches in his upper lip after being knocked to the ice.
``Hey, Knoxville played hard,'' said Anzalone. ``Give 'em credit. Every time we got a lead, they would come back.''
After dropping Game 2 at home, the Express won two at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, one of the ECHL's toughest venues.
Smith had two goals for the Express, both of them go-ahead scores.
Smith, a defenseman who had not scored a point in the first three games of the series, put the Express ahead 4-3 when he sent a shot past Cadden with 6:48 left in the third period.
But the Cherokees spoiled Smith's chance to be a hero when Robb McIntyre scored on a backhand shot that bounced off the skate of goalie Daniel Berthiaume and into the net to tie the score with 4:59 left.
Berthiaume and Cadden were tested in the final two minutes. Cadden's best save was a stop of Dubkov's close wrist shot. Berthiaume's closest call came when he denied Jim Brown on a walk-in from the left.
Berthiaume finished with 116 saves in four games; Cadden had 141.
The Express scored three times in the second period, taking leads of 2-1 and 3-2 in the process.
Roanoke tied the score at 1 on Jeff Jestadt's power-play rebound at the 3:13 mark of the second and took the lead on Dave Stewart's slap shot less than two minutes later. The Express had six attackers on the ice for that goal, as Anzalone pulled Berthiaume after the Cherokees were given a delayed penalty.
After Knoxville's Mike Vandenberghe knocked a backhand past Berthiaume, Roanoke regained the lead with 16 seconds left in the period on Smith's first goal.
The Cherokees tied the score at 3 in the third period on a goal credited to Brown that appeared to have been knocked in by teammate Mike Murray.
After the game, Roanoke players celebrated, but they already were turning their thoughts to the series with Richmond, which clipped the Express by one point for the East Division title.
``You can't get too high after one round,'' Stewart said. ``Richmond will be tough.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB