ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 7, 1997 TAG: 9704070154
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES
Two Hampton Roads goals in the final three minutes end Roanoke's hockey season.
Dave Gagnon began the last game of the Roanoke Express' season with a pulled groin, then ended it with a broken heart.
That's because the Hampton Roads Admirals proved they, too, have guts - plus a ton of talent. The Admirals scored two goals in the final 2 minutes, 45 seconds to hand Roanoke a crushing 4-3 season-ending loss in Game 4 of an East Coast Hockey League Kelly Cup Playoff series Sunday at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Hampton Roads, the No. 2 seed in the 16-team playoff field, wrapped up the series three games to one and will meet top-seeded South Carolina in a second-round series beginning next week in North Charleston, S.C.
The Admirals got there by beating a taped-up, patched-up and pumped-up Express squad that nearly limped to a deciding Game 5 by executing its positional, defensive brand of hockey perfectly, save for the final three minutes.
That's when it all came crashing down like an avalanche. Hampton Roads tied the score when Dominic Maltais picked up a loose puck in the Roanoke zone and beat the hurting Gagnon low on his right with 2:45 left. Instead of trying to ride the momentum into overtime, the Admirals kept the pressure on and won it when Chris Phelps scored on a long blast with 16.1 seconds left.
Gagnon, whose career ECHL playoff record is 22-4-1, stopped 129 of 139 shots in his three appearances for a .928 saves percentage. Afterward, he was reflecting on the shots he didn't stop.
``That's a save I've made all year,'' said Gagnon, who missed Saturday's Game 3 because of the groin injury he suffered one night earlier in Norfolk during Game 2.
``This time, I didn't make it. If I had made the big save, we'd be in overtime with a chance to win. Now, I have all summer to think about it.''
The Admirals won for the seventh time in as many trips to the Star City this season, although it required a dramatic comeback against a goalie who backstopped Hampton Roads to the ECHL title in 1991.
``Give them a ton of credit,'' said Admirals coach John Brophy. ``Gagnon put a ring on my finger when he played for me. I knew when I saw him come out there, we were in for a long night because he's a tremendous competitor.''
Roanoke had obliterated a 2-0 deficit and led 3-2 as it began a power play with five minutes left. The Admirals held and promptly tied the score 12 seconds after the power play ended when Alain Savage tipped a clearing attempt by Roanoke's Doug Searle. Maltais pounced on the loose puck and scored from the point.
The game-winner came after a faceoff. Phelps found himself with the puck near the blue line, from where he sent a shot that scraped the skate of Roanoke center Ilya Dubkov and squeezed inside the right post. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores. NOTE: Gagnon's playoff record is 23.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY THE ROANOKE TIMES. Jeff Loder (right) of theby CNBExpress celebrates a goal in the second period that tied the score
2-2. color.