ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 18, 1996 TAG: 9612180058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE STAYS HOT, scoring three power-play goals in a 6-3 victory over the Johnstown Chiefs.
The Roanoke Express experienced the equivalent of receiving a holiday fruitcake from your grandma when it beat the Johnstown Chiefs 6-3 on Tuesday night. It was a victory filled with nutty stuff that appeared quite sloppy and nasty, but at the same time was a gift you don't give back.
Maybe it was more like an ugly necktie you get from your aunt, instead. But either way you'll take it.
``It was an ugly win,'' said Frank Anzalone, the Express' coach. ``You need those to make the playoffs.''
Who knew two months ago the Express could embark on a three-game winning streak yet still quibble with some of the subtleties of ice hockey? After starting the season 5-8-1, Roanoke is 9-2-2 in its past 14 games.
The last of those three victories came in a game that lasted nearly three hours - or, about as long as one keeps a fruitcake before shipping it off to an unsuspecting relative. It was a game marred by 23 minor penalties and dragged down by 18 power plays, with the Express scoring on three of 11.
At times, the crowd of 3,616 at the Roanoke Civic Center could have counted the number of skaters on the ice using fewer than 10 fingers. The teams combined for four power-play goals, two shorthanded tallies (one each) and a couple of four-on-four goals. Because of the penalties, the game moved about as fluidly as an ice-clogged river.
``It was pretty sloppy,'' said Roanoke's Jeff Jablonski, who had one of the prettiest goals of the night.
Fellow left wing Jeff Cowan, who scored twice, concurred.
``It wasn't pretty to look at,'' he said, ``but we got the job done.''
Goals were scored in almost every way except by a goalie. Roanoke's Dave Gagnon almost provided that, too. With the Express leading 6-3 and the Chiefs using an extra attacker in the final two minutes, Gagnon found the puck in his possession and took a fungo whack at it with his goalie stick. Unfortunately for the Express netminder, it bounced off a Johnstown player before it could slide toward an empty net.
``And I got all of it, too,'' said Gagnon, who had an assist on a Jeff Loder goal. ``A two-point night. I should've had it.''
Instead, he settled for a 28-save night. Gagnon gave up two goals in the first 12:14 - including a shorthanded score by Chiefs center and former Roanoke player Carl Fleury - then shut down Johnstown until late in the third when the game was in hand.
Cowan scored twice on the power play to keep Roanoke (14-10-3) even after one. The Express broke open the game with a three-goal second period to make it 5-2 behind Jablonski, Loder and Sean Brown.
As has been the case for much of the past month, Jablonski was set up by Ilya Dubkov, who stole the puck while the Express was shorthanded and bounced a centering pass through traffic to Jablonski, who buried it at 1:02 for a 3-2 lead.
Just as picture-perfect was Loder's goal, which came via Tim Christian's assist at 5:09. With the teams skating four-on-four, Christian carried the puck to the left point, stopped on a dime and put a pass on Loder's tape in the slot, from where he beat goalie Olie Sundstrom high. Brown's goal came on a tip-in Sundstrom knocked up in the air then batted into the net.
Eric Landry capped Roanoke's scoring with a tip-in of a Duane Harmer power-play shot past Marc Siegel, who replaced Sundstrom, at 5:26 of the third. Johnstown's Ryan Savoia scored his second goal of the night with 2:02 left for the final margin.
``We didn't play as good as we should've,'' said Jablonski, who turned down a four-game stint with the American Hockey League's Baltimore Bandits this week. ``Everything they got, we gave 'em. We've got to play better when Raleigh comes here on Saturday.''
ICE CHIPS: For several years, former Roanoke Valley hockey baron Henry Brabham has worn a Johnstown jersey whenever the Chiefs were in town, which was understandable considering Brabham was Johnstown's co-owner back when the ECHL was founded. Monday, Roanoke general manager Pierre Paiement presented Brabham with an Express jersey, which the Vinton oilman wore during the third period. Dubkov became the Express' all-time assists leader when he registered No.151 on Saturday against Knoxville. The Express is 9-2-2 at home this season.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS Staff. Martin Woods (4) of theby CNBJohnstown Chiefs and Eric Landry (3) of the Roanoke Express battle
for the puck during first-period action Tuesday night at the Roanoke
Civic Center. color.