THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 24, 1996 TAG: 9602240478
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHAD SCHEXNAYDER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: LAFAYETTE, LA. LENGTH: Short : 47 lines
The Hampton Roads Admirals had some special chances Friday night against the South Division leading Louisiana IceGators.
Eleven to be exact.
The Admirals converted only two of 11 chances on the extra-man advantage as the IceGators notched two third period goals en route to a 5-3 win over the Admirals before a sellout crowd of 11,042 in the Cajundome.
Hampton Roads (25-20-13) remains in their tailspin dropping their ninth game in a row, while the IceGators (32-17-6) stay atop the South Division with 70 points.
Rob Valicevic's 34th tally of the year broke a 3-3 tie in the third period. Aaron Boh's second goal of the game came on the IceGator power-play with 11:54 remaining to give the IceGators a comfortable two-goal lead.
The Admirals opened the scoring with a power-play goal from Joel Poirer at the 7:34 point after the IceGator bench was called for an unsportsmanlike conduct. The Admirals were one-for-six on power-play opportunities in the first stanza.
But the IceGators responded to tie the game when Ron Handy flicked a wrist shot past Mike Torchia at the 9:56 mark.
The Admirals received Torchia earlier in the day on assignment from the Washington Capitals. Torchia had been playing for Orlando in the IHL where he posted a record of 3-1-1 with a 2.99 goals-against average. Torchia had also spent time earlier this season in Portland of the AHL.
The IceGators moved ahead 2-1 at the 14:50 point when John Depourcq slipped a short-handed goal behind Torchia. The play was set up as John Spoltore took his time and faked liked he was flipping the puck into the Admirals' zone. Instead, Spoltore slip the puck to a streaking Depourcq catching the Admiral defense asleep.
After back-to-back boarding penalties on both teams, Admirals forward Rod Taylor took a pass from Claude Fillion and deposited a back-hander past IceGator goalie Chuck Thuss at the 3:58 mark.
Chuck Thuss, who picked up his first win as an IceGator against the Admirals on the road on Feb. 7, stopped 32 of 35 shots by Hampton Roads. Torchia deflected 43 of 48 shots by the IceGators. by CNB