ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 16, 1996 TAG: 9611180136
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
The Roanoke Express failed to hand the South Carolina Stingrays their first regulation loss Friday night, but things could be worse.
Things would've been worse if not for Dave Gagnon. The Express goaltender made 38 saves and stopped all five Stingrays shooters in an overtime shootout as Roanoke won 3-2 in an East Coast Hockey League game before a season-high 6,968 spectators at the Roanoke Civic Center.
Things could've been better. Had Roanoke (7-8-1) maintained a two-goal, third-period lead, it would have become the first team to beat the Stingrays in regulation time this season. Winning a shootout did not accomplish that, but it certainly was better than losing in a shootout - or in regulation, for that matter.
Gagnon wasn't about to lose Friday. He repelled five shooters and made Kyle Millar's third-round shootout goal stand as the game-winner. The victory avenged a shootout loss Gagnon and the Express suffered at the hands of the Stingrays in October.
``Tonight, they're great,'' Gagnon said of shootouts. ``You can play a great game, a 1-1 game, and somebody's going to lose in a shootout. That's not right. It's hit-or-miss.''
Gagnon, whose record is 6-5-1, was so impressive, he made coach Frank Anzalone want to become a copy editor.
``Dave Gagnon,'' Anzalone said. ``That's your headline. Dave Gagnon, Dave Gagnon, Dave Gagnon, Dave Gagnon 18 times, Dave Gagnon. That's the story.''
There was a little more to the story. The Express held a 2-0 lead after two periods, then watched South Carolina (7-0-2) tie it.
Two oversights in its own zone cost Roanoke early in the third period. Two goals came on shots from skaters as open as if they were in a shootout. Mike Ross got around Express defenseman Doug Searle and scored 28 seconds into the period. At the 7:36 mark, Dave Seitz circled unfettered in front of the Express goal and beat Gagnon low to the stick side to tie the score.
``We had been complementing each other as a team so well all night,'' said Gagnon. Searle ``would save my butt, then I would save somebody else's. The first goal, I should have had. The second one, the guy made a nice play and we lost coverage for the first time all night.''
There was plenty of time for the Express to totally succumb, but it fended off several quality South Carolina chances. Roanoke killed a Stingrays power play in the final three minutes to set the stage for the shootout. The Express was 4-for-4 in penalty killing and is 9-for-9 in the past two games.
``Gagnon played exceptionally well,'' said Stingrays coach Rick Vaive. ``He made a lot of big saves. From the 12-minute mark on, we probably had eight unbelievable scoring chances. Nothing against the way Roanoke played, but I thought they were lucky to get to a shootout.''
Anzalone might have felt the same way. The Express was outshot 40-27 in regulation, but got plenty of effort from a depleted defense that included forwards Bobby Brown and Sean Brown for much of the night.
``South Carolina totally commanded things in the third,'' said Anzalone. ``They never get rattled when they're down. They hang around and make their move. They handle our [neutral-zone] trap very well. I've got to do a better job of coaching.''
Roanoke scored in the first period when Eric Landry tipped in a Millar attempt at 8:26 just as a delayed cross-check was about to be called on the Stingrays' Jared Bednar and a sixth attacker was coming onto the ice.
A key play occurred in the second when a South Carolina goal was waved off at 2:25 when Rob Concannon was called for goaltender interference. Thirty-two seconds after Concannon was sent to the penalty box, Jeff Jablonski caught a rebound with his hand, dropped the puck and scored past Taraf Lendzyk to make it 2-0.
``I would need to see the tape,'' Vaive said of the penalty, ``but if there was any interference, it was after the puck was in the net.''
It was a big play, because getting the puck past Gagnon was hard enough.
``The only thing on my mind is to keep winning games,'' said Gagnon. ``We want to get over .500 and never look back.''
ICE CHIPS: The Stingrays were without two of their better players, Marc Tardif and Dan Fournel, both of whom are injured and have combined to play in 10 games. Express forward Chris Lipsett was a teammate of South Carolina's Seitz at Clarkson University. Defenseman Trent Eigner did not report to Roanoke after being acquired in a trade with Huntington and was suspended by the Blizzard.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 83 linesby CNB