ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 31, 1996 TAG: 9604010134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C.
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Roanoke faces elimination from the ECHL playoffs after another power-play failture results in a 4-2 loss to Charlotte.
Even though the Express ended the night by brawling with the Charlotte Checkers, now is the time when Roanoke must show it has some fight left.
The Express lost 4-2 to the Checkers at Independence Arena on Saturday night and trails two games to none in this best-of-five East Coast Hockey League first-round playoff series.
Roanoke must win three in a row, beginning with Game 3 on Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center.
``We played as well and as hard as we could, and it just was not enough,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach.
The final result was not secured until Charlotte's Phil Berger scored an empty-net goal with 23.5 seconds left to account for the final margin, approximately 30 seconds after Anzalone pulled goalie Daniel Berthiaume in favor of a sixth attacker.
Things turned rough almost immediately as Berger got into a shoving match with Roanoke's Jason Clarke and both were given 10-minute misconducts.
Then, seconds after the puck was dropped, a fight broke out involving eight players, including Berthiaume, who left his crease and took a swipe at Charlotte hitman Dennis Maxwell.
Maxwell, who was fighting Roanoke's Karry Biette at the time, turned on Berthiaume, who also was leveled by Charlotte's Scott Kirton with 26 seconds left.
Maxwell received a double game misconduct and, as a result, will miss Tuesday's game. Seven others - Berthiaume, Biette, Craig Herr and Jeff Jestadt of Roanoke; Kirton, Darryl Noren and Mick Kempffer of Charlotte - received major penalties for fighting and game misconducts.
``It was an emotional thing,'' said Anzalone, who got into a shouting match with Charlotte's Shawn Wheeler after the game. ``I didn't think it was that bad of a donnybrook. They think we're classless, we think they're classless. They talk at our bench, we probably talk at their bench. They draw us into penalties, we draw them into penalties.''
Even though 152 of the penalty minutes occurred after the outcome was settled, the earlier penalties also played a part, as the Express experienced another power-play blackout. Roanoke was 0-for-8 with a man advantage Saturday and is 0-for-14 in the series. Charlotte, which scored two power-play goals in the first period, is 5-for-10 in the series.
``Special teams are telling the story,'' Anzalone said. ``They're doing a much better job than we are. We're doing the best we can, but some of our main guys aren't scoring.''
The Express outshot Charlotte 37-33, scored twice in the game's first 11:53, but didn't slide another puck past Checkers' goalie Nick Vitucci, who padded his ECHL record with his 25th playoff victory.
``Roanoke threw a lot of shots at our net,'' said John Marks, Charlotte's coach. ``Fortunately for us, they're not going in.''
The Express got three power plays in each of the first two periods, but couldn't convert. Roanoke's best opportunity came in the first period, when Jeff Jablonski saw his close-range shot carom off the right post.
Coming off Wednesday's 3-0 shutout in Game 1, Roanoke wanted to score quickly and did so when Tim Hanley buried a right-point blast after Jablonski stole the puck behind the Charlotte goal 1:16 into the game.
Charlotte came back less than two minutes later when Eric Fenton converted a centering pass from Eric Flinton. The Checkers took a 2-1 lead at 9:52 with the first of two power-play goals in the first when Maxwell lifted a shot over Berthiaume, who was screened by a pile of players in front of the net.
The Express tied it at 2 with 8:57 showing on the clock when Jestadt won the puck from Wheeler in the Charlotte zone and scored from 20 feet. The Checkers scored the winner on their second power play, converting on Daniels' rebound goal with 2:55 left.
Following that, there was no more scoring until Berger's empty-netter.
``Look, it's better to be up 2-0 rather than tied 1-1,'' said Marks, whose team never has won a playoff series in its three years in the ECHL. ``But we take nothing for granted. You saw how much Roanoke wanted this one. They'll come back.''
ICE CHIPS: Express right wing Chris Potter missed the game because of a sore back. His status is day-to-day. ... The Express will practice today in Winston-Salem, N.C., before returning home for Tuesday's game.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 84 linesby CNB