ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, April 5, 1997 TAG: 9704070138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. THE ROANOKE TIMES
A backup goaltender helps Roanoke hold off Hampton Roads in the ECHL playoffs and tie their series.
The Hampton Roads Admirals pulled their star goaltender because they were trailing. The Roanoke Express pulled its star netminder because he was hurting.
In the end, having a 19-year-old between the pipes for the final 91 seconds was significantly better than having an empty net, as the Express squeaked out a 4-2 win Friday night to even this East Coast Hockey League Kelly Cup Playoffs series at one game apiece.
Forty-eight hours after suffering a distressing 4-3 triple-overtime loss in Game 1, Roanoke was reaching for the antacid again in Game 2 after goalie Dave Gagnon - who has been outstanding through two games - had to leave the game after aggravating a groin injury with 1:31 left of a 3-2 game.
Enter Matt Carmichael, a teen-age netminder who made three appearances for the Express after being called in from the Ontario Hockey League. The Admirals had pulled goalie Darryl Paquette in favor of a sixth skater, then Carmichael survived at least three serious scrambles, made a big save and withstood three faceoffs in his zone in the final minute before Jeff Jablonski ended matters with an empty-net goal with three-tenths of a second left.
The series moves to Roanoke today, where the Express is 0-5 against the Admirals this season. Game 3 begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Roanoke Civic Center.
``The psychology of playoff hockey is to get a win on the road,'' said Express coach Frank Anzalone. ``We had to win here. This is going to be a long series. We knew we had to win here. Whether this catapults us, we'll see.''
The Express will also have to wait and see about Gagnon, who made 39 saves Friday and has 103 saves in two games, including Wednesday's 64-save performance.
When asked how he felt, Gagnon said, ``Not too good. We'll have to see tomorrow.''
The Express also played the third period without left wing Tim Christian, who suffered a bruised shoulder. His status will be determined today.
The Express led 3-1 after two periods thanks to a pair of unlikely goals. First, Sean Brown made it 2-0 with a fine individual effort when he took the puck behind the net, and poked the puck past Paquette while being dragged down at 1:55.
Hampton Roads got on the board when Victor Gervais fired a fluttering, 40-foot shot around Roanoke's Doug Searle and past Gagnon at 6:24. A little more than 10 minutes later, Roanoke's Jeff Loder was being bodied way outside by Admirals' defenseman Alex Alexeev, but still snapped a shot that seemed to fool Paquette after it deflected off Alexeev's stick. The puck slid just inside the left post at 16:46 to make it 3-1.
``It's a shame a crappy goal wins the game,'' said Paquette.
Roanoke had scored first when Eric Landry hustled into the middle of a goal-mouth scrum and popped home a rebound with 2:26 left. It was his second goal of the series.
``We were down a little [on Thursday], but we got a boost of confidence,'' said Landry. ``We know we can beat them. We were concerned about the opening tonight. We tried to take that loss [on Wednesday] and turn it into a positive.''
Said defenseman Duane Harmer, who has four points in the series: ``That loss helped us more than hindered us.''
The Admirals made it a one-goal game when Chris Phelps took a centering feed from Victor Gervais and knocked it under the crossbar with 15:22 left, but the Express held on despite getting outshot 43-24.
Roanoke has been outshot 111-66 in two games.
``We checked and checked and checked, and they still got 43 shots,'' said Anzalone. ``They just keep coming in waves.''
The win also secures a fourth game, which will be played in Roanoke on Sunday at 6:05 p.m.
``This isn't the first time they've come back on us,'' said Hampton Roads' Dominic Maltais. ``They've never quit all year.'' NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 78 linesby CNB