ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, November 29, 1996 TAG: 9611290062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
Eric Landry wasn't feeling too thankful when the rest of his countrymen were celebrating Canada's version of Thanksgiving on Oct. 14.
Thursday night before 5,582 well-fed Americans, he provided the gravy for the Roanoke Express.
A little more than a month ago, Landry was trying to latch on with a team after being waived from the Dayton Bombers' training camp just as family and friends were celebrating Canada's Thanksgiving holiday. Thursday he was scoring two goals, including the winner, in Roanoke's 6-5 victory over the South Carolina Stingrays in an East Coast Hockey League game at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Although it wasn't a pretty victory, complaining about earning two points in East Division standings at the powerful Stingrays' expense is sort of like complaining about a Thanksgiving turkey that's a bit on the dry side.
Shut up and take it.
``We did what we needed to do,'' said coach Frank Anzalone, whose Express handed the Stingrays only their second regulation loss.
South Carolina (11-2-3) was playing its third game in three nights, but the Stingrays skated strong. They never led, but twice tied the score after falling behind Roanoke (11-9-2).
Landry provided the winner on a bang-bang play that had South Carolina goalie Taras Lendzyk reaching for the antacid. With the Express clinging to a 5-4 lead early in the third period, Landry scored on a three-man rush when he buried the puck after his pass caromed right back to him off teammate Kyle Millar's skate.
``It happened so fast I didn't even have time to think,'' said Landry. ``I was hustling in the zone. The puck bounced off me, then I had it on my stick, then it bounced off Millie's skate. I didn't even think about faking with it. I one-timed it.''
The score wasn't tied after that, although Roanoke had to withstand a goal from South Carolina sniper David Seitz with 11:47 left and a couple of scares after the Stingrays utilized a sixth attacker in the final 44 seconds.
``Give us credit for hanging in there,'' said Anzalone. ``South Carolina is the best team in the league right now.''
There would be no repeat of the storybook finish South Carolina goaltender John McKersie experienced in Roanoke on Oct.29 when the former Boston University netminder won his first professional start in a shootout. McKersie, who nearly died after being struck by a car two years ago yet came back to play professionally, yielded four goals on 11 shots Thursday and was pulled in favor of Lendzyk 5:50 into the second period.
That was when Jeff Loder beat him high with a wrist shot after Tim Christian had taken the puck from South Carolina's Jared Bednar with a hard check along the left-wing boards.
That made it 4-3, Express. Jeff Jablonski made it 5-3 by dribbling a third-chance rebound past Lendzyk at 11:27. The two-goal lead stood until South Carolina's Steven Parson shoveled a backhand shot through traffic past Dave Gagnon with 1:28 left in the period.
``They kept coming back,'' Anzalone said.
The Express scored twice in the game's first 3:16, but did little else the rest of the period and found itself in a 3-3 tie at the first intermission. Not even a freak goal by Roanoke's Chris Lipsett would give the Express a lead it could hold.
That came with 5:58 left in the period, when Lipsett dived face-first after a puck just outside the crease. He had the puck with him behind the net when - while still lying on the ice - he swept the puck off McKersie's right skate and into the net.
However, South Carolina knotted it at 3 when Ed Courtney received a back pass from Bednar between the circles and scored with 1:30 left.
Landry got Roanoke on the board at 2:19 with a wraparound that caught McKersie off-guard. Seventeen seconds later, Ilya Dubkov scored to make it 2-0. Rob Concannon made it 2-1 with a power-play goal at 11:24, the first power-play goal Roanoke had given up at home in five games.
At 12:57, Kyle Ferguson tied it with a sizzler from the top of the right faceoff circle.
ICE CHIPS: Defenseman Dave Stewart and right wing J.F. Tremblay were scratched from the Express lineup again Thursday. Both still are nursing ankle injuries. Roanoke plays at Hampton Roads tonight, then returns to face the Admirals in Roanoke on Saturday.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB