ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 30, 1997 TAG: 9703310152
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
Roanoke and Hampton Roads will meet in the first round of the ECHL playoffs beginning Wednesday in Norfolk
Well, if the Roanoke Express has to face the Hampton Roads Admirals in the playoffs, it might as well do it on the road.
That's the playoff scenario facing the Express after Saturday night's 6-0 drubbing it suffered to the Admirals at the Roanoke Civic Center, which has been as enjoyable as an amusement park for the Admirals.
It was certainly a funhouse for Admirals' goalie Darryl Paquette, who became the first goalie in East Coast Hockey League history to post three consecutive shutouts. He ran his scoreless streak to 203 minutes, 5 seconds in breaking the old record set by Roanoke's Paul Cohen when he posted back-to-back shutouts during the 1993-94 season.
Hampton Roads (46-19-5) improved to 5-0 in the Star City this season and locked up second place in the East Division. Roanoke (38-25-6), which finishes the regular season today in Raleigh, N.C., will be the East's No. 4 team and will meet the Admirals in a best-of-five, first-round playoff series next week.
The first two games of that series will be in Norfolk, which is actually not a bad situation for the Express. Roanoke went 3-1-0 this season on the Admirals' home ice.
Games 1 and 2 of the series will be 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday at Scope. Games 3 and 4 will be in Roanoke next Saturday at 7:35 p.m. and Sunday, April 6, at 6 p.m., if necessary. A fifth game would be in Norfolk on Wednesday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m.
The home team is 1-8-1 in games between the clubs this season.
``If I had an answer for that, I'd tell you,'' said Express coach Frank Anzalone. ``I don't think there's any reason for that. Both teams come out ready to play.''
Except for Saturday, when the Express was soundly beaten despite allowing just 24 shots, six of which went in for a 25-percent success rate. Anzalone pulled starting goaltender Dave Gagnon after the Admirals scored four times on 15 shots through two periods. The Admirals scored twice on nine shots against Matt Carmichael in the third.
Roanoke fired 25 shots on Paquette, whose stiffest challenge came when he denied Chris Lipsett on a breakaway late in the first period.
``I'm seeing the puck amazingly well,'' said Paquette. ``The way this team is playing defense, I only have to come up with three or four saves instead of 10 or 12. This is the third shutout in a row I'd call a team shutout. .... Goaltending is a mental game. Right now, I'm mentally sharp.''
Although it had some scoring opportunities, Roanoke couldn't bury them and finished 0-for-7 on the power play.
``We missed the net about 600 times,'' said Anzalone.
The Admirals broke open the game with a three-goal second period, with Taylor scoring twice.
He made it 2-0 by ripping a slapshot from within a stride of the blue line that beat Gagnon to his right. After Aaron Downey steered a short shot around defenseman Chris Wismer and through Gagnon's pads to make it 3-0 at 8:10, Taylor tipped in a feed from Andy Weidenbach with 1:25 left in the period.
Hampton Roads had a 4-0 lead after taking only 15 shots. In the third period, Weidenbach scored a power-play goal and Dominic Maltais completed the rout with 1:52 left.
``The thing I liked about it is we didn't pull anything stupid,'' said Admirals coach John Brophy. ``We played like it meant something to us and got some momentum for the playoffs.''
Roanoke outshot the the Admirals 12-9 in the first period, but Hampton Roads got the only goal when Dan Shermerhorn burst from the penalty box after serving two minutes for cross-checking, took the puck from Alex Alexeev, raced down the ice and roofed a shot over Gagnon at 9:06.
``We came out of the room believing we were focused and we were not,'' said Anzalone. ``We were powderpuffs and they punished us.''
ICE CHIPS: Forward Jeff Loder did not play because of a sore shoulder. ... Forward Eric Landry returned to Roanoke from the American Hockey League's Saint John Flames, but did not arrive in time to suit up for Saturday's game. and Hampton Roads. This will be the fifth playoff series in Roanoke's four-year history, each coming against a team currently in the East Division - Raleigh (1994), Knoxville (1995), Richmond (1995), Charlotte (1996) and Hampton Roads. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY THE ROANOKE TIMES. Alexei Krivchenkov (26) ofby CNBHampton Roads and sprawling goaltender Darryl Paquette keep a shot
by Todd MacIsaac from going in the net.
RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES