ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997 TAG: 9704030024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES
Dave Gagnon sets a club record with 64 saves, but it wasn't enough as the Express dropped its ECHL playoff opener.
The second-longest game in East Coast Hockey League history may have been the No. 1 heartbreaker in the history of the Roanoke Express.
Express goaltender Dave Gagnon turned in one of the greatest performances in the nine-year history of the ECHL. But the Hampton Roads Admirals clipped the Express early in the third overtime for a dramatic 4-3 victory in Game 1 of a Kelly Cup Playoff series at Norfolk's Scope that began Wednesday night and ended early Thursday morning. Game 2 is Friday here, and Game 3 is Saturday in Roanoke.
Hampton Roads' Alain Savage corralled the puck off the end boards and shoveled the Admirals' 68th and final shot of the night past Gagnon at the 1:31 mark of the third overtime, sending the Admirals players and remnants of fans into a frenzy.
It was a brutal way to end the night for the Express, which rode Gagnon and his franchise-record 64 saves, which is also the second-highest total in league history.
It also ended the 5-hour-plus game after 101 minutes, 31 seconds of on-ice action, second only to the 105:47 game the Admirals won over Greensboro on April 9, 1991. Gagnon was in the pipes that night for the Admirals, who won the championship that year.
Roanoke never led in regulation, but it forged a tie twice in the third period. The first came when Tim Christian made it 2-2 just 1:46 into the third. After Rick Kowalsky made it 3-2 with a back-door, power-play goal off a nice feed from Victor Gervais at 8:28, the Express got the break it needed.
Hampton Roads' Mike Larkin was assessed minor penalty for charging J.F. Tremblay at 10:57. As Tremblay chuckled near the Admirals' blue line, Larkin gave him a light head-butt on the way to the penalty box. It was enough for referee Terry Koharski to dole out a 5-minute match penalty - later reduced to a game misconduct - and give the Express seven minutes of power-play time with only 9:03 left.
It took the Express 3 1/2 minutes, but it forced a 3-all tie when Jeff Jablonski scored off a rebound with 5:34 left. Roanoke still had more than three minutes with the man-advantage.
That stretch was interrupted by a 2-minute holding assessed to Roanoke's Sean Brown. Roanoke went back on the power play with 1:16 of extra-man time, but couldn't convert, as regulation ended 3-all.
The first overtime was frenetic from the beginning, even though no one scored. The Admirals had two excellent shots from Rick Kowalsky and Randy Pearce on the first shift. Gagnon made a pair of outstanding saves. Later, he stoned Pearce on a partial breakaway.
The second overtime was not as action-packed. Still, Gagnon had to turn away 16 Hampton Roads shots to head into the third overtime with 62 saves. His 60th save broke the Express record he had set Jan. 28, 1995, against Wheeling.
Way back in regulation, Roanoke trailed 2-0 before finally breaking the ice against goalie Darryl Paquette, who had ended the season with a league-record three straight shutouts and stopped 39 shots Wednesday. Eric Landry jabbed in a rebound on a power play with 7:02 left in the second, ending the Admirals' streak of 25 straight penalty kills.
It took a four-minute high-sticking penalty against the Admirals' Alexei Krivchenkov - who decked Ryan Equale - to undo Paquette's streak.
Paquette kept the streak alive for another 2:22, then he stopped Duane Harmer's drive, but couldn't cover the rebound before Landry showed up and succeeded in scooting the puck across the goal line.
Landry's goal came just 3:03 after the Admirals had taken a 2-0 lead when Dominic Maltais scored by hammering the puck after it ricocheted off the endboards with 10:05 left in the second. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.,
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB