THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603100212
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines
Mark Bernard began his second season in grand style Saturday night.
Bernard, who will assume the lion's share of the goaltending chores for the Hampton Roads Admirals in light of Mike Torchia's surprising trade Friday night to Anaheim, stopped 37 shots in leading the Admirals to a 2-1 victory over the IceCaps at Dorton Arena.
Joel Poirier and David St. Pierre scored for the Admirals, who extended their latest winning streak to two and five of their last six by beating their East Division foes in a tight, taut contest.
Combined with Roanoke's 6-4 victory over South Carolina Saturday night, the Admirals climbed within two points of the Stingrays for third place in the East Division. However, the Express kept pace with the Admirals and continues to trail Hampton Roads by but three points.
That makes tonight's 6 o'clock home game against the Express of vital importance to both teams.
``That's exactly what we wanted,'' said Bernard, who had watched Torchia play in four of the last six games and figured to do no more than split time with him the rest of the season. ``We don't care who we meet in the playoffs, but we want to finish as high as we can in the standings, too.''
The Admirals finally got the break they needed midway through a third period they had dominated. The IceCaps weren't able to clear the puck from their zone, St. Pierre intercepted between the circles and fired the pick past Raleigh goalie Brad Mullahy to score the game-winner.
``We played a great third period,'' coach John Brophy said. ``They're a hard team to go against because they don't push back. It's hard to really get into the game against them.''
Not for Bernard. He had to be on top of his game from opening faceoff to final horn. His only lapse came early in the second period. He dropped to the ice in stopping Steve Potvin's blast from in front, but the rebound went right to Spencer Meany. He lifted the puck into the net to give Raleigh a 1-1 tie.
``I thought the puck was underneath me, which is why I stayed down,'' Bernard said. ``I didn't realize it had gotten out front like that. Next thing I know, I'm looking up as it's zipping past me.''
With 54 seconds left, Raleigh coach Kurt Kleinendorst sent word to referee Ian Walsh to inspect the stick of Admirals' defenseman Sergei Voronov, in his first game back after recovering from a broken finger. Walsh found it illegal and penalized Voronov two minutes.
Seconds later, the IceCaps pulled Mullahy, giving them a two-man advantage. But Bernard blocked Jon Larson's left-circle blast.
After Bob Woods made a sprawling poke-check to strip the puck from Raleigh player deep in the Hampton Roads' zone, Bernard stopped Steve Potvin's close-range shot to the short side with two seconds to play to preserve the victory.
``Bernie was great,'' Brophy said. ``I said before that goaltending would not be our downfall.'' by CNB