Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 16, 1994 TAG: 9403160129
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
With its Russian sniper back in the lineup, the rejuvenated Express blew past the South Carolina Stingrays 6-2 before 4,444 spectators at the Roanoke Civic Center on Tuesday night.
The victory, in what Express goalie Paul Cohen called a "make or break" game in the East Coast Hockey League playoff race, lifted Roanoke (34-27-3) into a fifth-place tie with the Stingrays (31-24-9) in the ECHL East.
More importantly, the win reduced Roanoke's magic number for clinching a playoff berth to six. Any combination of Express wins (two points) or overtime losses (one point) combined with Richmond losses (two points) or overtime losses (one point) totaling six puts Roanoke in the playoffs.
Now, for the bad news. Speaking through an interpreter, Berdichevsky said he's been told to return to Adirondack of the American Hockey League today. The Red Wings have a game Thursday.
"I was happy to come back down here," Berdichevsky said. "But I'm not so happy that they [Adirondack] sent me back. They must not think I play so good."
While Express general manager Pierre Paiement said Monday it's possible that Adirondack may send Berdichevsky back down for a few more games, nobody knew for certain late Tuesday night whether they'd ever see the high-scoring forward in Roanoke again.
If Tuesday was Berdichevsky's Express swan song, it was a nice farewell tune. He didn't score a goal, but his presence was enough to relight the burner on a club that had gone cold, losing a season-high three straight at home and four of five overall before Tuesday.
Tony Szabo, whose three goals paced Roanoke, said Berdichevsky, who was stolen away by Adirondack last month, provided a strong dose of inspiration.
"It was a real huge lift having Lev back," Szabo said. "We all know what Lev can do. I think it fired the whole team up to go out and get the job done."
Roanoke enjoyed a huge slice of Pye - Stingrays goalie Bill Pye - in the first period and cruised despite taking some ridiculous penalties that gave the visitors every chance to get back in the game.
The Express scored four times on six shots in the final 9 minutes, 44 seconds of the period to take a 4-1 lead.
Berdichevsky, who was flying on every shift, set up Roanoke's first goal when he drew an interference penalty from South Carolina's Rick Lessard on a breakaway chance at 8:49.
Szabo made the Stingrays pay 1:27 later, fooling Pye with a high 35-foot wrist shot.
Roanoke made it 2-0 at 14:08, when Ilja Dubkov, off assists from Oleg Yashin and Berdichevsky, stuffed the puck past Pye on a goal-mouth scramble.
Leading 2-1, the Express scored twice in a span of 19 seconds - goals by Roger Larche and Jeff Jestadt - to blow it open.
From that point, Roanoke held on despite itself. Some bad penalties parlayed with whistle-happy referee Terry Koharski led to seven Stingrays power-play chances in the final two periods. But South Carolina scored only once.
"It was an awful exhibition of discipline on our part," said Roanoke coach Frank Anzalone. "We don't need guys out there playing for themselves at this part of the season. Yeah, we outworked and outplayed South Carolina, but our discipline was terrible."
Szabo knocked the Stingrays out in the third period, scoring twice for his third hat trick of the season.
\ ICE CHIPS: Roanoke's playoff hopes hinge on a three-game road swing this weekend to Huntsville on Friday, Birmingham on Saturday and Nashville on Sunday. Roanoke returns home Tuesday for the season finale against Huntington. . . . Jestadt's goal was his club-high 40th. Szabo, who has 38 goals and 53 assists, needs nine points in the final four games to reach 100. . . . Cohen came up big again, swatting aside 26 of 28 shots, most under heavy pressure during penalty kills.
by CNB