THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 23, 1995 TAG: 9512230494
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
There's a saying among Canadian hockey players that whenever a goaltender plays an outstanding game, he's ``stood on his head.''
If so, Charlotte's Nick Vitucci stood on his head twice Friday at Scope.
Vitucci almost singlehandedly held off Hampton Roads in regulation, collecting 45 saves, then snuffed all four Admirals shots in a shootout to lead Charlotte to a 4-3 victory.
It was the third win in four shootout games with Hampton Roads for Vitucci, a former Admiral and a close friend of Mark Bernard, the Admirals goalie who picked up the loss.
``Bernie played well,'' Vitucci said. ``Sometimes it's just a matter of the puck bouncing your way, or you're a little more comfortable. I felt great out there after the first shot'' in the shootout.
The first shot, a backhander from Dominic Maltais, was snuffed in front of the net. Vitucci then swatted away shots from Rick Kowalsky, Trevor Halverson and Serge Aubin in succession.
Meanwhile, Dennis Maxwell put one in the net to Bernard's left, then Darryl Noren put one over his shoulder, to give Charlotte the victory.
``Vitucci had a great game,'' Admirals coach John Brophy said ``We were all over him in the third period and he stopped everything we had.''
Though the Admirals picked up a point in the standings, it was their third straight loss, and a disheartening one at that. After playing a listless first period, and spotting Charlotte a 3-1 lead early in the second, the Admirals dominated the rest of the way.
Hampton Roads outshot the Checkers 17-6 in the second period and 20-9 in the third, and the statistics didn't tell the entire story. Most of the Admirals' shots were high-percentage.
``I could name five or 10 times when we were right in front of the net with point-blank shots and he stopped us,'' Kowalsky said. ``Vitucci was unbelievable.''
So, to the Admirals, is their record in shootouts. They lost their first seven this season, and have won just three of 13. Had they won half their shootouts, they'd be in first place in the East Division.
Instead, the Admirals (15-5-10) are second with 40 points, and third-place Charlotte (17-10-2) is just four points behind.
``I don't know why we can't put the puck in the net in shootouts,'' Brophy said. ``If I knew why, we'd fix it. We're just not getting it done.''
The first period was all Charlotte. Scott Kirton scored a breakaway goal off a centering pass from Eric Flinton to make it 1-0 at 8:57. Dennis Maxwell made it 2-0 three minutes later when a stole a pass in front of the goal and slipped it past Bernard.
The Admirals opened the second period with the fastest goal to start a period in franchise history when Kowalsky took a pass from Serge Aubin from the faceoff and slapped it past Vitucci with five seconds gone.
Charlotte took a brief 3-1 lead on a slap shot from Chad Nelson from just inside the blue line that zinged over Bernard's shoulder.
The Admirals then took control. Sean Selsmer backhanded the rebound of a Bob Woods shot over Vitucci to make it 3-2 at 10:52.
Aubin scored a power-play goal three minutes later against a beleaguered Vitucci, who garnered nice saves on two Admirals shots in succession, only to see the puck dribble under his glove after Aubin, with a defender draped across his arms, gave it a slight push.
The Admirals poured it on the third period, which at times resembled a 20-minute Admirals power play and was brutally physical throughout. Referee Chris Cozzan let both teams go toe-to-toe by not calling a penalty in the final 26 minutes. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Christopher Reddick, The Virginian-Pilot
The Admirals' Ron Majic, center, and Charlotte's Jason Kelly go at
it despite a linesman's strong suggestion to knock it off.
Photo by CHRISTOPHER REDDICK, The Virginian-Pilot
Charlotte's Matt Robbins gets around prone Admiral Rick Kowalsky in
the first period of the Checkers' win.
by CNB