THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9410220450
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals sent a boisterous, sellout crowd of 8,990 home happy Friday by blasting the Raleigh IceCaps, 5-2, in their home opener at Scope.
Forward Trevor Halverson tallied his first goal of the season at 13:43 of the third period to build a precarious 3-2 lead to 4-2 for Hampton Roads. Matt Mallgrave then scored his second goal of the game at 18:37 to put the game on ice.
Of the five Hampton Roads goals, Halverson's was the most spectacular, and the most demoralizing to Raleigh.
Brendan Curley fed a look-away pass from the right corner in front of the net that Halverson controlled and slapped past Raleigh goaltender Brad Mullahy.
Rookie Rick Kowalsky scored his second goal of the season and Rod Taylor added one to even the Admirals record at 1-1.
But it was the defense, especially that of goaltender Patrick LaLime, that keyed the victory. LaLime, a rookie from Quebec, had 28 saves, including several he stopped by diving and sprawling across the ice.
He was under the most pressure when Raleigh (0-2) had a five-minute power play early in the third period. The IceCaps scored once, on a Derek Linnell slap shot, at 5:43. But they didn't score again.
In the final two minutes of the power play LaLime fended off six shots.
``The defense did a great job,'' LaLime said. ``Once I stopped the puck, they kicked it out. There were few second shots.''
Admirals coach John Brophy said the defense ``was outstanding for this early in the season.''
``We shut them down,'' he added. ``For all of our younger players it's the first time they've played this (defensive) system. They're from many different programs and haven't had time to learn our system all that well.
``But we outhustled them and outplayed them. We deserved to win.''
The Admirals wasted no time in scoring, and on a shorthanded goal. The Admirals were on a power play when John Porco was called for roughing and charging on the same play 2:41 into the first period.
That gave Raleigh a power play. Nonetheless, 40 seconds later, Curley slapped the puck past two IceCaps to center ice, where Mallgrave took control, faked left, and smacked a hard shot that Mullahy waved at in desperation.
Raleigh tied the score at 15:08 on a power-play goal by Lyle Wildgoose.
Hampton Roads then took the lead for good on Kowalsky's short tip-in of a blocked Halverson shot that put the Admirals ahead, 2-1, at 10:33.
Hampton Roads expanded the lead to 3-1 when Jim Brown, stationed behind the Raleigh net, fired a pass to Taylor, who rocketed the puck past Mullahy at 15:01.
It was the first goal of the season for Taylor, who led the Admirals in scoring last season.
Yet it was the defense, the Admirals agreed, that prevailed on this night.
``The defense is coming along,'' said Brian Goudie, whom Brophy said ``had a helluva game.''
``We played well. And it's still early. We're only going to get better.''
Curley said the Admirals worked hard on defense following a 5-3 loss to Roanoke last Tuesday.
``We put in a lot of time in practice, working on pinning guys (against the glass),'' he said. ``We worked for a long, painful time.''
Which paid off with a satisfying victory.
The Admirals, who were picked to battle Charlotte and Raleigh for the East Division title, travel to Charlotte tonight at 7:30. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Paul Aiken, Staff
Hampton Roads forward Bill Lang attempts to dig tthe puck off the
boards at Scope while Raleigh's Derek Linnell applies the defensive
pressure.
by CNB