ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020094
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
If the Roanoke Express can make it a New Year's resolution to win more games in this fashion, it might actually make a move on some of the big boys in the East Coast Hockey League's rugged East Division.
The Express scored six unanswered goals in the final two periods to rally from a three-goal deficit and knock off the Hampton Roads Admirals 6-3 before 6,885 fans in the Roanoke Civic Center Saturday night.
Down 3-0 midway through the second period, the Express, which has won six straight against the Admirals in Roanoke, ripped off three goals in a span of 2 minutes, 7 seconds to tie the score after two periods and polished off Hampton Roads with a three-goal third.
For a team that has been on the other end of these kind of games in recent days, Roanoke (19-15-1), which reached the halfway point on its 70-game schedule trailing the second-place Admirals by five points, badly needed a win like this before embarking on a four-game road trip to Florida and South Carolina next week.
"This is a huge win," said Roanoke left wing Jeff Jablonski, who continued his torid scoring ways by tallying a natural hat trick. "To come back from 3-0 the bus after a big win like this."
Jablonski put the Express ahead for good with his third goal of the night, his team-high 26th of the season and his 18th in the past 14 games. His tough-angle shot from the right side near the goal line barely squeezed inside the left post past goalie Mark Bernard to make it 4-3 with 19:13 left in the game.
L.P. Charbonneau blasted a shot through Bernard's pads with 13:38 left and Chris Potter scored an empty-netter with 1:09 left to round out the scoring.
Goalie Daniel Berthiaume, who made 34 saves, made an outstanding save late in the game with the Admirals buzzing when he somehow gloved a point-blank wrist shot by Aaron Downey to preserve the win.
Hampton Roads (17-7-10) dominated the first period, outshooting the Express 15-1 in the opening minutes in taking a 2-0 lead.
"We talked [after the first period] about there being a lot of fans in the stands and about whether or not we were going to get beat 9-0," said Express coach Frank Anzalone.
After Hampton Roads' Rod Taylor scored off a 2-on-1 rush to make it 3-0 at 4:47 of the second, the Express took over. Jablonski scored two goals in the period, with both scores resulting from some fine work along the boards by his teammates.
Seventeen seconds later, with a delayed penalty about to be called on the Admirals, Paul Croteau shipped a pass from the right wing boards to Jablonski, who scored right on the doorstep to make it 3-2.
The Express tied it at 14:12 as Jablonski popped home a rebound of an Ilya Dubkov shot.
"I don't know if it was stupid penalties or bad calls," said Brophy. "It was an intense game and the ref wouldn't let the players play. When you get up 3-0, you shouldn't let anybody come back and beat you."
ICE CHIP: Admirals assistant coach Al MacIssac was handed a gross misconduct after he tried to go into the stands after a heckling fan following the second period. MacIssac was stopped by a security guard and was not allowed back behind the bench. ... Express tough guy Jason Clarke, who didn't play at Charlotte Friday night because of a bad elbow, was suspended for Saturday's game by the league office for jawing with Charlotte's Rick Willis before Friday's game. see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB