ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 18, 1996 TAG: 9603180135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
THE LAST-PLACE ICECAPS continue their hex over Roanoke this season with an easy victory.
Whether the Roanoke Express brings out the best in the Raleigh IceCaps or the IceCaps bring out the worst in the Express is debatable.
The results are not.
The IceCaps had a St. Patrick's Day parade in beating the Express 5-1 on Sunday. If the IceCaps, who have been a season-long pain for the Express and are hoping to reach the playoffs as a wild-card entry, could play Roanoke every night, they most certainly wouldn't be in last place in the East Coast Hockey league's East Division.
Four of Raleigh's 20 victories this season have come against Roanoke. The Express, trying to maintain its fourth spot in the East Division and set up a first-round meeting with Charlotte in the playoffs, is 5-4 against the IceCaps this season with a regular-season ending game left in Raleigh next Sunday.
``Raleigh is not very good,'' Roanoke's Jeff Jestadt said. ``Tonight, we were worse.''
Eschewing its home whites in favor of its green road jerseys, Roanoke (36-27-4) actually played as badly as it has in road games this season in losing a regulation game for the first time in 12 home games. The Express, a 12-18-3 team on the road, hadn't lost in regulation at home since a 6-2 loss to Charlotte on Jan.16.
Then again, the Express could have been wearing New York Rangers jerseys and not beaten Raleigh (20-34-12), which rode a 41-save performance from goalie Brad Mullahy.
For the second night in a row, the Express fell behind early. For the second night in a row, coach Frank Anzalone pulled his starting goalie in the first period.
However, unlike Saturday's come-from-behind 5-4 victory over Charlotte, in which it rallied from a 2-0 deficit, Roanoke could not overcome a 3-0 first-period hole Sunday.
Daniel Berthiaume, Saturday's relief goaltender, was reached for three goals in the first 16:15 on a day when he was honored by the Roanoke Valley Hockey Boosters as Roanoke's most valuable player in a pre-game ceremony.
``Daniel Berthiaume really needed to be sharp for us,'' Anzalone said. ``He wasn't as sharp early as he was Saturday. After that, we didn't play relaxed. We tried to take the game over [physically] - and we did, but it wasn't enough.''
Raleigh got goals from Jason Hehr, Lyle Wildgoose and former Express defenseman Jon Larson, who buried a power-play slapshot through a screen.
``Both teams are fighting for their respective [playoff] spots,'' said Larson, who was traded to Raleigh in January. ``We need every point we can get. Kurt [Kleinendorst, Raleigh's coach,] has put this team together since January. It's tough to gel in half a season.''
Matt DelGuidice took over for Berthiaume after Larson's goal. Roanoke, which squeezed out a paltry six first-period shots, proceeded to outshoot Raleigh 21-7 in the second and get a power-play goal from Michael Smith at 13:21.
However, the IceCaps scored with 32 seconds left in the period when the puck hit a skate in front of the net and caromed to Jeff Reid, who flicked a point-blank shot through DelGuidice's pads to make it 4-1.
That took the steam out of the Express, which fired off 15 more shots in the third (Roanoke led the shots 42-28) but couldn't slide one past Mullahy. Wildgoose accounted for the final margin with an empty-netter with 8:16 left in the game after Anzalone went with an extra attacker.
``Against Charlotte [on Saturday], everybody was hitting, scoring [and] doing what they were supposed to be doing,'' Express defenseman Dave Stewart said. ``Tonight, we were flat. We shouldn't be losing to a team like Raleigh.''
ICE CHIPS: Other winners of Hockey Boosters' awards were co-offensive players of the year Ilya Dubkov and Jeff Jablonski, defensive player of the year Dave Stewart and rookie of the year Tim Christian.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. Raleigh's Brad Mullahy (right) andby CNBMike Kelleher stop a shot by Roanoke's Ilya Dubkov. color. 2.
Roanoke's Karry Biette takes a shot during the Express' 5-1 loss to
Raleigh on Sunday at the Roanoke Civic Center.