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Express Weekly

December 9, 2002 - ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express played to a 2-1-0 record this past weekend with a 1-1-0 record on the road, and a 1-0-0 record at the Civic Center. Overall the Express enter this week with a 12-10-2 record (26 pts., 5th, NE Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6 at READING 4-1 Win

The Express made its second visit to Reading, PA this season, and came out with a 4-1 win over the Royals. Overall, the Express improved to 3-0-0 vs. its Northeast Division rival. Frank Novock opened the scoring on the power play with a deflection of a shot from the point at 14:30 of the first period. Reading battled back to tie the game two minutes later with a power play goal of their own by Simone Tremblay.

The teams remained deadlocked at one until early in the third period when the Express tallied twice in the first five minutes. Shawn Limpright notched his second goal of the season just 1:36 into the final stanza on the power play, and Dan Sullivan scored his fourth goal of the year at 4:32 to give Roanoke a 3-1 lead. The Express sealed the win with Rick Kowalsky's 12th goal of the season at 14:54 of the third period.

Evan Lindsay started in goal for the Express and made several big saves in the first two periods to keep the teams tied, and overall stopped 26 of 27 Royals' shots. The win raised Lindsay's record to 5-4-1. Scott Fankhouser made his third start vs. Roanoke and suffered his third loss against the Express, allowing the four goals on 39 shots, and saw his record fall to 11-9-0.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7 at ATLANTIC CITY 3-0 Loss

In the first of back-to-back games between the Express and the Boardwalk Bullies, the Bullies earned their first regulation win over Roanoke this season with a 3-0 victory. It was the first time Roanoke has been shutout this season.

A power play goal at 9:25 of the first period by Scott Matzka of Atlantic City opened the scoring. The score remained 1-0 into the second period, when the Bullies added two more goals in the middle frame. Kevin Colley scored at 4:19 and Ryan Mougenel notched a goal at 7:03 of the second period to open a 3-0 lead. In the third period, Atlantic City clamped down defensively limiting the Express to just five shots on goal.

Evan Lindsay made his third consecutive start for Roanoke between the pipes, and played well, allowing the three goals on 37 shots. Lindsay's record fell to 5-5-1. Scott Stirling made his second start against the Express of the season and stopped all 26 shots to earn his second shutout of the season, and raise his record to 8-1-1.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8 vs. ATLANTIC CITY 5-4 Win

The Express won the back end of the home-and-home series with the Boardwalk Bullies 5-4. In a back-and-forth game, the Express came out on top with a strong effort from top to bottom. The win for Roanoke raised their record to 3-1-1 over the Boardwalk Bullies.

The Bullies opened the scoring at 2:25 of the first period on Scott Matzka's eighth goal of the year, but the Express fired back with the next two goals, both by rookie sensation Jason Jaffray. Jaffray notched his 16th goal of the season at 11:19 and picked up his 17th on the power play at 15:43, giving the Express a 2-1 lead. However, Atlantic City rallied with a late goal by Jim Henkel at 18:20 sending the teams to the locker room tied at two.

In the second period Roanoke re-gained the lead when Chad Mazurak notched a short handed goal just 48 seconds into the middle period. The goal was Mazurak's second of the season. The lead was short lived however, because on the same power play, Jade Galbraith tied the game for Atlantic City at 1:29 of the period. Just moments later, Dylan Gyori opened up a 4-3 Express lead with his seventh goal of the year at 4:34.

With the Express still holding a one-goal advantage heading into the third period, the Bullies again found a way to tie the game up. Shawn Maltby slapped home his fifth goal of the season at 2:36 of the final period. The game-winner for the Express came at the 9:00 mark on a beautiful passing play by Gyori and Jaffray to set up Rick Kowalsky at the side of the net for the deflection.

Playing with just four defensemen for the entire game, the Express did a strong job, especially on the penalty kill, limiting the Boardwalk Bullies to one goal on eight attempts. Sebastien Laplante started for the Express in goal, but allowed two goals on 16 shots and was pulled after one period. Evan Lindsay replaced Laplante and stopped 12 of 14 shots over the final two periods to earn the win and raise his record to 6-5-1. Scott Stirling made his fourth consecutive start for AC and allowed the five goals on 39 shots.

UPCOMING GAMES

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10 vs. JOHNSTOWN, 7:05 p.m.

The Express plays its only game of the season against the Johnstown Chiefs on Tuesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center. The Chiefs enter this week with a record of 11-12-2 (24 pts., 4th, NW Divison). The Chiefs are coming off a 3-0 loss to Richmond on Sunday night. Roanoke is 27-12-4 all-time vs. Johnstown.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 13 vs. CINCINNATI, 7:35 p.m.

The Cincinnati Cyclones make the first of two visits to the Roanoke Civic Center on Friday night. The two teams will face each other just twice this season. The Cyclones come into this week's action with a 13-8-1 record (27 pts., 3rd, NW Division). Cincinnati is 5-0-0 in their last five games and is 7-3-0 in their last 10 games. The Cyclones most recently beat Wheeling 8-0 on Saturday night. Cincinnati's special teams are among the best in the league, ranking third in power play (23.3 %) and third in penalty kill (85.5 %). Roanoke is 5-5-1 vs. Cincinnati all-time.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14 at PEE DEE, 7:30 p.m.

The Express makes its second of two visits to the Florence Civic Center on Saturday night. In the first of the four games between the teams Pride picked up a 5-1 win on November 16. Pee Dee begins the week in third place in the Southeast Divison with a 12-7-4 record. The Pride is 4-4-2 in its last 10 games. Pee Dee makes two visits to Roanoke this season, on Dec. 27 & Feb. 22. The Express is 15-8-0 all-time vs. the Pride.

TEAM & LEAGUE LEADERS

The Express currently have three players in the top 15 of the league's leading scorers. Rookie Jason Jaffray has continued his hot play to remain third in scoring with 37 points (17 G, 20 A). Jaffray leads all ECHL rookies with his point total, and is just one point behind Buddy Smith of Arkansas and Reading's Brian McCullough for the League lead. Jaffray's 17 goals ranks second overall in the league as well, one behind Shawn McNeil of Louisiana. Rick Kowalsky is currently tied for 11th in the league with 32 points (13 G, 19 A), and Dylan Gyori is 14th in the league with 30 points (7 G, 23 A). Gyori is tied for fourth in the League with his assist total, and still holds the league's longest streak for consecutive games with an assist this year, having picked up an assist in nine straight games from 10/11 – 11/5.

HONORS

Express rookie forward Jason Jaffray was named the East Coast Hockey League's Rookie of the Month for November. During the month, Jaffray picked up 24 points in 14 games. The native of Olds, Alberta was also runner-up for the overall Player of the Month for November.

INJURY UPDATE

The Express have two players currently on the IR. Forward Blair Stayzer remains on the 7-day IR with a sore knee, and is expected back possibly this weekend. Brad Essex is also on the 7-day IR and his return is expected on Tuesday. In addition, two players suffering from injuries, but not on the IR are Tim O'Connell and Josh Barker. O'Connell is expected to miss up to four weeks after suffering a blow-out fracture of his left orbital bone when he was hit by a puck in the face on Dec. 6 at Reading. Barker suffered a slight shoulder injury on Dec. 7 at Atlantic City and is listed as day-to-day.

COACH'S SHOW

The next edition of "Coach's Corner LIVE!" will be held on Monday, December 9 at 6:30 p.m. from the Cornerstone Bar & Grill. Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies head coach Mike Haviland will join Express broadcaster Kevin Reiter and Head Coach Perry Florio this week on the show. Fans are invited to attend the hour-long show at Cornerstone in downtown Roanoke. The program can also be heard live on 910 AM in Roanoke and 990 AM in Blacksburg.



ECHL Stories from December 9, 2002


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