Barons Fall In Game One

Published on April 16, 2004 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


Strongsville, OH- A rowdy crowd packed the Iceland USA complex Thursday night to watch the Cleveland Barons battle the Toronto Roadrunners in the first ever AHL playoff game for both teams. It was the Roadrunners coming away with the 3-1 victory to go up 1-0 in the best of three games series.

The old adage for playoff hockey is that there is no such thing as a bad shot, and both teams followed that rule in the first period of play, shooting from all over. The result was a wide open period of hockey, with end to end action, dominated early by the goaltenders. Cleveland netminder Nolan Schaefer made several great saves, denying the Roadrunners time after time. Not to be outdone was Toronto netminder Tyler Moss, who was equally as stellar. Cleveland's best chance of the period came from Ryan Clowe, as the rookie forward received a pass up the gut of the Toronto defense that allowed him to walk in on a partial breakaway. Clowe made two dekes then tried to beat Moss low left pad side, but was unable to do so as the pad flashed out quickly to deny Cleveland the early lead. With a little less than four minutes to play in the stanza, matching roughing minors were called against Cleveland's Tavis Hansen and Toronto's Sean McAslan. This opened up the ice surface even further for what was already a wide open game, and the Roadrunners would capitalize. A quick pass down the left wing found Jani Rita alone, and the forward fired a quick high shot the beat Schaefer to put Toronto up 1-0. The goal seemed to slow the pace of the game, as both teams were content to play the remainder of the period in the neutral zone. For the stanza, Schaefer finished with 10 saves, while Moss turned away all 15 shots faced.

The second period started out much like the first one, with both teams intent on pushing the offensive pace. Cleveland set up shop in the Roadrunners' zone and found Miroslav Zalesak all alone in front of the net. Before the leading scorer Cleveland could get off the shot though, he was hooked down, giving the Barons their second power play chance of the game. Cleveland fired shots away at Moss, but were unable to beat the Roadrunners' netminder. Seconds after the power play ended, the Barons were caught in a line change, and Mike Bashai received a pass at center ice and skated in all alone on Schaefer. Bashai deked once to the left, before firing back to the right, but was denied on a tremendous save by Schaefer to stop Toronto from adding to its 1-0 lead. The save seemed to spark the Barons, and similar to the first period, matching minors again led to 4-4 hockey and more open ice. This time though, it would be Cleveland capitalizing, as Zalesak received a pass from Matt C! arkner in the slot. Zalesak took measure and fired a hard slapshot that beat Moss to tie the score at one. Toronto nearly regained the lead with a little more than twelve minutes to play, as Dave Roche received a pass at the left faceoff mark and appeared to have Schaefer beat with a high shot glove side. However, the Barons' netminder flashed the leather, making an incredible save to keep the game tied. Both teams would have a few chances over the remainder of the stanza, but the pace slowed, and the game remained tied at one heading into the third period.

The tension in the air heading into the period was very thick, as the crowd came its feet for every scoring opportunity. Five minutes into the stanza, Aaron Gill feathered a pass to a cutting Jon DiSalvatore who fired a high shot that was turned away on a blocker save by Moss. The Roadrunners would come right back, peppering Schaefer with shots from all angles, but were unable to score the go ahead goal. As time went on in the period, the offensive chances in each zones became more furious, as both teams played at a frantic pace. With a little more than six minutes left in the period, the Roadrunners finally beat Schaefer, on a mad scramble in front of the net, with Michael Henrich banging in the rebound to put Toronto up 2-1. Two minutes later, after a turnover by Cleveland in neutral ice, the Roadrunners appeared to take a 3-1 lead. However, the goal light never came on and it was ruled no goal. Amazingly, two minutes later, Toronto again appeared to score, as the light ca! me on, but the referee who was right behind the net, immediately waived it off. Given new life, Cleveland furiously tried to score the game tying goal, nearly doing so as Moss made two saves out of a scrum in front of the net. After a timeout by the Barons, Cleveland pulled Schaefer for the extra attacker but was unable to score the game tying goal. The Roadrunners added an empty netter with a little under a minute to play to go up 3-1, which would be the final tally of the game.

The Barons and Roadrunners will be action on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. for game two. Tickets are available by calling the Barons at 216-420-0000. The game can also be heard live by crashing the net at www.clevelandbarons.net.

1 assist, +1 plus/minus rating, and 66.7% on faceoffs. Sounds like a typical night for Marcel Goc. But on Thursday night, it wasn't.

Goc made his NHL debut in Game 5 of the Sharks opening round series with the St. Louis Blues. Not only that, but he put those impressive statistics together in only 5:23. Playing with the Barons, Goc would see upwards of 20 minutes of ice time per game.

But as Goc so often has shown in Cleveland, his attention to detail and ability to get dirty lead to good things. On a line with "energy" guys Mark Smith and Todd Harvey, Goc assisted on the game-winning goal. His assist could probably be overlooked because he didn't make a highlight pass. But what he did is what will make him a successful NHL'er.

Goc locked up a Blues defenseman. In doing so, he was able to redirect the puck ever so slightly to the awaiting Mark Smith. Smith simply gathered the puck and put it past Osgood. For Smith, it was his first NHL Playoff goal. For Goc, it was more.

By recording a point in his first NHL game, Goc joins a familiar name with a good start in San Jose. In his first NHL game last season, Miroslav Zalesak made his debut against the Blues. Zalesak walked away from that game with his first NHL goal, in his first NHL game, on his first NHL shot.

While Goc wasn't able to get the goal, he was able to set it up. And that makes Goc a tremendous asset to this organization. He makes every line he is on better. It doesn't matter if it is a pivotal time in a playoff round clinching game. He gets it done.

So hats off to Cleveland Barons product Marcel Goc. Who at the game's biggest stage, took his opportunity and ran with it.

SHARKS TIDBITS

Four former Cleveland Barons have recorded at least one point with the Sharks in the playoffs this season. Among them are Jonathan Cheechoo, Niko Dimitrakos, Marcel Goc, and Todd Harvey.

Who will be the next Barons player to hit it big? Get a sneak preview at IceLand USA on Saturday at 7pm. The Barons host the Toronto Roadrunners in Game 2 of the North Division Qualifying Round. Call 216-420-0000 for ticket information.

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American Hockey League Stories from April 16, 2004


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