Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504060078
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Berthiaume and his teammates showed that reports of their demise may have been a bit premature, staving off elimination by beating Richmond 3-0 on Wednesday night in Game 3 of their East Coast Hockey League playoff series.
The Renegades came into the Roanoke Civic Center looking to complete a three-game sweep of this best-of-five series. They'll have to stick around a couple of extra days before the teams play Game 4 on Friday. For that, they can thank Berthiaume.
After flirting with at least three shutouts in the past three weeks, Berthiaume finally posted his goose egg. It was his first shutout as a professional since the 1990-91 season, when he was with the Los Angeles Kings.
``It's always a good time for a shutout,'' said Berthiaume, who won for the fourth time in seven playoff games.
As is required of a goalie who tosses a shutout, Berthiaume was quick to share credit with his teammates. In this case, it was far from a hollow statement.
Defensemen Michael Smith, Mark Luger and Dave Stewart, among others, swept the puck away from the crease several times after Berthiaume's saves.
``We made our own puck luck tonight,'' said Frank Anzalone, Roanoke's coach. ``I'm happy as heck we're playing Friday night. Richmond has a Riley Cup [championship] team. I believe they're the best team in the league. If the gods of hockey bless us, and we live to play another day, I'm happy.''
After Sunday's 4-0 loss in Game 2 in Richmond, Berthiaume gave his mates a verbal torching. They rallied to his aid Wednesday. Smith, especially took on a load of work after fellow defenseman Stephane Desjardins left the game with a shoulder injury in the second period.
``The guys let me see the puck,'' Berthiaume said. ``Then they cleared it. It was a hell of a game.''
The Express showed the Roanoke Civic Center crowd of 4,236 it still has some fight left in it, figuratively and literally. The crowd, in return, showed it had some fight when a couple of fans in Box 1 were escorted from the premises by police officers after a bout of fisticuffs.
It was that kind of game on the ice, as well. It was a physical affair, one that wasn't decided until late in the third period, when Tony Szabo gave the Express a 2-0 lead and Jeff Jestadt scored an empty-netter.
Szabo scored on a breakaway with 4:48 left in the game after he and Ilya Dubkov wrested the puck from the Renegades at center ice. It was Szabo's first goal of the playoffs.
``One of their players tried to pass and I just put my stick down,'' said Szabo, who scored his first goal of the playoffs. ``When you're down two games, you've got to ask yourself how bad you want this. You take it shift by shift, period by period.''
After Richmond coach Roy Sommer pulled goalie David Littman in favor of an extra attacker, Derek Laxdal cleared the puck from the Express zone and passed to Jestadt, who scored into the empty net from the top of the left faceoff circle.
That was more than enough offense for Berthiaume, who stopped all 34 shots he saw, including 15 in the third.
Most of those were quality chances. Berthiaume's best saves came when the Express was nursing a 1-0 lead, as he stopped Shawn Snesar's close-range shot, then stopped the rebound with his stick while lying on his side.
``Most times, that will be in your net,'' Berthiaume said. ``The puck was rolling my way tonight.''
Dubkov gave the Express a 1-0 lead at the 9:52 mark of the second period.
Early, it was evident the game would be a defensive battle. Richmond had the best scoring chance in the first period, when Mike Taylor hit the right goal on a rebound late in the period.
``A post here, a post there,'' Sommer said. ``It was that way on both sides. ... [Berthiaume]Berthiaume ``stood there and made the great stops,'' Sommer said. `` ... They've got to win two more games, so we're still in the driver's seat as far as I'm concerned.''
by CNB