ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, October 20, 1996 TAG: 9610220013
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
RALEIGH JUMPS on host Roanoke early and cruises to an easy ECHL victory in front of 6,011 fans.
Feeling as if it had just been flattened by a runaway Zamboni, the Roanoke Express was left smoothing over its own rough spots on the ice following a 7-5 loss to the Raleigh IceCaps.
A Saturday night crowd of 6,011 at the Roanoke Civic Center didn't see many Express highlights. That's because many folks had evacuated the premises before the Express scored three late goals to put a better face on a long night.
The IceCaps once again used the civic center as their home away from Dorton Arena by winning for the eighth time in 14 trips to Roanoke over the past four seasons. It was the kind of night that left Express goalie Dave Gagnon smashing his stick after allowing seven goals in 34 minutes, 52 seconds of action.
``Raleigh plays so comfortably here,'' said Express coach Frank Anzalone. ``They hurt us. They take away our low play, they chip. They're just comfortable here.''
After two lean years, Raleigh (2-0) looks like it could be returning to 1993-94 form, when the IceCaps advanced to the finals of the ECHL's Riley Cup playoffs. Raleigh beat Richmond 4-3 in its season opener Friday, then dominated the Express with great skating from the outset.
The IceCaps jumped to a 3-1 lead after a period, then completely buried Roanoke (1-2) with a four-goal second that left the score 7-2. Only three goals in the game's final 7:49 - two of those in the final 2:06 - made the end result appear respectable.
``It seemed like everything they did went in,'' said Anzalone. ``We dug ourselves a hole, tried to get out and just made the hole bigger. We tried to show our fans we were still into it, still playing hard.''
Opening the season with three games in as many nights may have been too much to ask of the youthful Express, which faces a November schedule that could ``crunch us,'' according to Anzalone. The Express plays 17 games next month. Only two of its next 11 games will be at home.
Roanoke appeared dead-legged in the second period and showed little of the aggressiveness it had demonstrated in solid performances Thursday (a 6-4 loss at Knoxville) and Friday (a 5-4 win at home against Huntington).
``Some of the younger guys may have been mentally tired early,'' said Anzalone. ``They learned real quick, that if you're not into it, a good team can burn you.''
Raleigh scored almost immediately in the second when Rob Pattison roofed a pass from Spencer Meany at 1:31 to make it 4-1, then added three more tallies during a seven-minute span midway through the period that included a short-handed goal.
The Express had an extra man when it coughed up the puck near center ice that gave the IceCaps a 2-on-1 that ended with Jeff Reid banging a wide-open blast through Gagnon's pads.
Playing his third straight game, Gagnon was not sharp. But he wasn't helped by his defense, either, which repeatedly gave up odd-man rushes in the second.
``Dave's still trying to find his way out of the weeds,'' said Anzalone. ``There were some saves he ordinarily would make, but didn't. Everything snowballed.''
Chris DeProfio scored one second after that power play ended to make it 5-2, but Raleigh scored twice in 19 seconds. Reid scored on a short shot at 14:33 and Jason Karmonos walked past the Express defense to beat Gagnon at 14:52. The Express goalie responded by breaking his stick over the goal's crossbar before being pulled in favor of rookie Larry Moberg, who saw his first pro ice time. He stopped all 17 shots he faced.
``When you go in that situation, there's not a lot of pressure,'' said Moberg. ``Dave's just not getting any bounces. He's made some great saves. [Opponents] have just had deflections and things go in. Dave will come around. He's a great goalie.''
Karmonos put Raleigh on the board first by swooping in after the puck bounced off two bodies in front of the net and shooting into an empty net at 5:37 of the first. Jeff Loder knotted it three minutes later, but Kris Miller and Darren Colbourne scored in the final 10:39 to make it 3-1.
Down 7-2, the Express got goals from Chris Lipsett, Eric Landry and Bobby Brown.
``We let up after the first 10 minutes,'' said Express left wing Jeff Jablonski, who had three assists. ``We gave up a lot of line rushes. We've got to sharpen up a little bit.''
ICE CHIPS: Loder, a 20-year-old rookie from Corner Brook, Newfoundland, was welcomed to the pro ranks Thursday by getting hit in the face and earning 10 stitches in his lower lip. Landry was playing in his first game since being acquired off waivers from Columbus. For the second straight night, Sean Brown wore the captain's ``C'' on his jersey. Dave Stewart, who has been the captain for most of the past two seasons, is serving a three-game suspension for an illegal hit in Thursday's season opener at Knoxville.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 linesby CNB