ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 12, 1997 TAG: 9703120088
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES
Jeff Salajko is outstanding in net for first-place Columbus.
As happy as Frank Anzalone was with the third period of Tuesday night's hockey game, the Roanoke Express coach was just as disappointed with the events of the final 20 minutes.
The Express threw an amazing 32 shots at Columbus Chill goaltender Jeff Salajko in the third period, but only pushed the puck by him twice in a 3-2 loss to the Chill at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Salajko was brilliant for Columbus, the first-place team in the East Coast Hockey League's North Division. He stopped 50 of 52 Express shots, with 30 of those saves coming in the third period.
After Roanoke (34-23-4) erased a two-goal deficit early in the third, Columbus (39-18-3) netted the game-winner on Derek Wood's rebound goal with 7:20 remaining on one of the Chill's few rushes of the period.
``I think they got like two chances the whole [third] period,'' said Anzalone. ``The timing and luck was not there for us tonight. We came back again, but you just can't give up a goal like that.''
The story, though, was Salajko, who saved the Chill, which played its fifth straight one-goal game in the middle of this nine-game trip.
``He kept us in it,'' said Chill coach Brian McCutcheon. ``Roanoke came at us the entire period. You have to have good goaltending to win on the road.''
The Express finally broke the ice early in the third period on its 33rd shot of the night. Salajko was marvelous until then, but the Express overcame a 2-0 hole and tied the score in a span of 2 minutes, 6 seconds.
Ilya Dubkov got the Express on the board with a power-play goal at 6:00 of the third. After losing the puck while getting tripped. Dubkov picked himself up, regained the puck and snapped it past Salajko to make it 2-1.
Just 2:06 later, Todd MacIsaac was rewarded for his night of workmanlike effort in front of the net when he converted a rebound to tie it. Matt O'Dette's long shot was stopped in front of the crease, where MacIsaac roofed it while tumbling to the ice for his first goal since coming to the Express in a trade last month.
After a scoreless first, Columbus got two goals in the second period from Matt Oates and Derek Clancey. Oates scored on a nice individual effort and Clancey converted on a power play.
About five minutes into the second, Clancey picked up the puck behind the Express net after Gagnon turned aside a shot and skated around a defender in front of the goal. He wristed a shot that slipped past Gagnon to the stick side at 5:07.
At 8:03, Roanoke received the worst end of a wrestling match between Express defenseman Cory Peterson and Chill center Patrick Pysz. Peterson got a double minor for roughing while Pysz was merely assessed a two-minute minor for elbowing.
On the ensuing power play, Clancey ripped a shot from near the top of the right faceoff circle that appeared to hit a stick in front and skip past Gagnon at 9:52 for a 2-0 lead.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: JANEL RHODA THE ROANOKE TIMES. Roanoke's Tim Christianby CNBloses his footing while pursuing the puck behind the Columbus net.
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