THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 26, 1994 TAG: 9411260200
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
The sign draped above the seats opposite the Hampton Roads bench spoke for most in the Scope crowd of 8,773.
``Hey You Pucks Get it Together.''
The Admirals finally got it together Friday, smashing the Greensboro Monarchs, 5-1, in what was certainly their finest effort of the season.
The Admirals (7-8-2) hope the victory ended a nightmarish streak in which they lost six of seven games and fell into last place in the East Division.
``We just got tired of it,'' said center Brendan Curley, who had an assist and played a key role in keeping the puck out of the Admirals zone.
``We got fed up (with losing). We came out determined to take the lead early and hold onto it.''
John Porco, Rod Taylor and Rick Kowalsky all scored in the first 13 minutes to give the Admirals a 3-0 lead. Greensboro, stifled by the Admirals defense, managed just three first-period shots on goal.
When Porco scored again at 11:48 of the second period by acrobatically tipping the puck into the net in midair after being tripped by a Monarch, the game was all but decided.
Greensboro rarely managed to get off clean shots, and the credit went to the Admirals' forwards as much as their defensemen.
``We've played this well defensively,'' Taylor said. ``But this is by far the best we've forechecked.''
``The forwards stayed with their men,'' added coach John Brophy.
Taylor, the team's leading goal scorer last season with 54, had been in an early-season slump. But he had a goal in Wednesday's 6-5 loss to Raleigh as well as a goal Friday.
He also missed by inches on several other chances in both games.
Brophy says Taylor is playing better in part because he's been moved to the same line with Curley, whom Brophy says had his best game of the season.
``He played a great game,'' Brophy said of Curley. ``We need him to come back and play (tonight at Richmond) with the same intensity. If he plays like that every night, we win a lot of hockey games.''
Brophy said that applies to most of Curley's teammates as well. Harshly critical of his team the last month for its lack of effort and what he termed its ``refusal'' to accept his coaching system, Brophy said Friday's victory shows the system works.
``We played with a lot of intensity the entire game,'' he said. ``We did everything we've asked them to do every other game.
``Every line came out and played hard. Each line came out and played the system we've been talking about for the last two months, the same system we've used the last six years.
``I don't know how many more examples we need.''
Greensboro closed the margin to 4-1 on Davis Payne's goal at 15:17 of the third period. Two minutes later, Greensboro coach Jeff Brubaker pulled goaltender Peter Skudra in a desperate effort to rally.
The Monarchs were on a power-play the final 97 seconds, and thus had a 6-4 advantage, but it was Hampton Roads that scored, when Kowalsky zipped in an empty-net goal at 19:30.
Goaltender Patrick LaLime collected his sixth victory in 13 outings, and limited Greensboro to one goal for the second time in seven days.
``Patrick had some terrific saves,'' Curley said. ``That was great for his confidence. We need somebody to step up and be our goaltender.
``We showed our fans, as well as ourselves, what we can do.''
Yet Taylor, for one, isn't ready to concede that the poor start is over.
``Who knows?'' he said. ``It's hard to say with this team. We've got to do it more than once, we've got to do it consistently before you can say it's over.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Rod Taylor works his way toward Greensboro goalie Peter Skudra for a
goal in the first period to start the Admirals on their way to 5-1
victory.
by CNB