ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130058
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE STAGES a five-goal comeback, but loses 6-5 to the Charlotte Checkers.
Falling behind by five goals was not too high a mountain for the Roanoke Express to climb. Falling behind by one in the final three minutes was.
The Express enjoyed one of its biggest comebacks in franchise history Wednesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center when it vaporized a five-goal deficit to the Charlotte Checkers. The Express enjoyed it for about two minutes. Then, Charlotte's David Brosseau intercepted the puck and scored with 2:10 left to lift the Checkers to a deflating 6-5 victory.
Roanoke (27-17-3) took 3,339 thrillseekers for a roller-coaster ride that bottomed out when Charlotte (24-19-5) raced to a 5-0 lead, and peaked when the Express scored the next five goals to tie it. It all came to a screeching halt when Brosseau scored.
``We deserved a better fate,'' said Express coach Frank Anzalone.
It appeared the Express was going to get just that. After skating lifelessly in the first period and falling behind 4-0, the Express made the most noteworthy tardy arrival since the Knoxville Cherokees, who worked their way into East Coast Hockey League lore last week when their bus broke down on the way to Roanoke and delayed the start of a game.
Roanoke's only breakdowns came on the ice. The Express didn't get rolling until Dave Stewart buried a slapshot to make it 5-1 with 2:46 left in the second period and Wayne Strachan scored an unassisted goal off a faceoff just 12 seconds later.
It became a game in the third period when Charlotte failed to score with a two-minute, two-man advantage. This came after Roanoke's Sean Brown was called for high-sticking after the second period horn had blown and after Anzalone was handed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for yelling at referee Ian Walsh as he left the ice.
``We got mad,'' said Anzalone. ``We got mad at everything. Mad at the ref. Mad at other players. Mad at them laughing at us.''
The Express channeled that anger into goals. Jeff Jablonski, who had three points, buried a third-chance rebound on a power play to make it 5-3 with 16:24 left and Ilya Dubkov converted another close power-play rebound with 9:59 left.
By then the Express was dominating action and holding the Checkers without a shot for more than 10 minutes. Dubkov brought Roanoke all the way back by taking a pass from Michael Smith and scoring a backdoor goal past Charlotte goaltender Ken Sheppard with 4:57 left.
``They had us back on our heels,'' said Charlotte coach John Marks, ``and we never got off them.''
With just over two minutes left, Express goalie Larry Moberg tried to clear the puck from behind the net by sending it toward the right-wing boards. Instead, he put it right on the blade of Brosseau, who snapped a shot past Moberg as he tried to recover.
``I didn't get enough on it,'' said Moberg, who stopped 15 of 21 shots. ``I still should have made the save. It hit my skate.''
The Express got a couple of quality chances with a sixth attacker but couldn't convert and could not win despite outshooting Charlotte 50-21.
ICE CHIPS: Dubkov scored his 19th and 20th goals this season, as he became the fourth Express player to reach the 20-goal mark. The three Jeffs - Jablonski, Cowan and Loder - are the others. ...Charlotte defenseman Jake Deadmarsh is the younger brother of Colorado Avalanche defenseman Adam Deadmarsh.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS STAFF. Charlotte's Scott Kirtonby CNBreaches for the puck as Roanoke's Doug Searle (left) and Sean Brown
(18) move in. color.