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February 24, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express polished off this past week winning both of its games. The Express has gone 4-0-1 in its last give games, and has won five of its last six home games. Overall, the Express enters this week with a 32-19-4 record (68 pts., 3rd NE Division).

LAST WEEKÂ’S ACTION

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21 vs. GREENSBORO 3-2 Win

The Express met the Greensboro Generals for the fifth of seven times on Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center, and the Express came away with a 3-2 victory. The win gave the Express a 4-1-0 record over their Northeast Division rival with two games remaining in the season series.

Roanoke got off to the quick start scoring twice in the first period. Shawn Limpright got things started for the Express with a power play goal just 1:23 into the game. Chad Mazurak extended the lead to 2-0 with an even strength goal at 13:13 of the opening period. As the game moved to the second period, the Express opened a 3-0 lead, but on a controversial goal. Joe Dusbabek slipped home a shot at 12:04 of the middle period, but the Generals argued the goal call, because the net was slightly dislodged. However, the goal stood, and the Express had the three-goal lead. Greensboro chipped away scoring late in the second period, and adding a second goal midway through the third to close the gap to one, but strong defense and goaltending helped preserve the lead and give the Express the victory.

Evan Lindsay started in goal for the Express and made 39 saves to earn the win and raise his record to 13-8-2. Sebastien Centomo got the start in net for the Generals and suffered the loss, allowing the three goals on 32 shots, dropping his record to 1-2-1.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22 vs. PEE DEE 3-1 Win

Roanoke hosted the Pee Dee Pride for the second time this season, it what was the final meeting of the year between the two teams. The Express increased its record to 3-1-0 on the year against the Pride, winning the last three games of the season series.

In a penalty filled game, which featured a new league season-high 246 penalty minutes combined, the Express opened an early lead over Pee Dee. Dan Carlson broke out of his scoring drought by tallying an even strength goal at the 2:13 mark of the first period. With the score remaining 1-0 at the beginning of the second period, Roanoke extended their lead to 2-0 when Mike Peron slipped home a power play goal at 4:19. The game remained a 2-0 Roanoke lead into the third period when the physical play began to pick up.

A total of 33 penalties were whistled in the final period, which featured four five-on-five brawls. The penalties amounted to 174 of the 246 total minutes. The first brawl occurred at the 13:34 mark of the third period and featured fighting majors to Cam Bristow and Chad Mazurak for the Express and Matt Reid and Aaron Gates for Pee Dee. Jason Schmidt also received a game misconduct for being the third man in on a fight.

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The next brawl took place just 26 seconds later and saw fighting majors given to Jason Jaffray and Dylan Gyori for Roanoke and Jason Metcalfe and Derek Halldorson for Pee Dee. In addition, Metcalfe was given an instigating minor and a game misconduct, and Rick Kowalsky was given a game misconduct for being the third man in.

The action settled down for the next several minutes, although a penalty to the Express led to a power play goal for Pee Dee at 18:34, cutting the Express lead in half. In the closing moments, the Pride elected to pull their goaltender for the extra attacker, and Roanoke capitalized with Carlson scoring his second goal of the game into the empty net to seal the win with 37 seconds left in the game.

With the game in hand, the third brawl ensued with four seconds left in the game. Cole Fischer and Mike Peron each squared off for the Express and receive fighting majors, and Allan Sirois and B.J. Adams picked up fighting majors for the Pride. Sirois also received and instigator penalty and a game misconduct, and Adams and Peron also picked up game misconducts. The final gathering between the teams, which did not lead to any penalties, came at the final horn.

Evan Lindsay picked up his second straight win in goal for the Express by stopping 30 of 31 Pee Dee shots. The win raised his record to 18-11-2. Lindsay has now won nine of the last fourteen games he has started. Ron Vogel started in goal for Pee Dee and suffered the loss, allowing two goals on 33 shots. The loss knocked his record down to 13-9-2.

UPCOMING GAMES

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26 vs. TRENTON, 7:05 p.m.

The Express meet the Trenton Titans for the seventh of nine times on Wednesday night at the Roanoke Civic Center. The game is the third of four at home vs. the Titans. Roanoke is 3-3-0 vs. Trenton and is

0-2-0 vs. the Titans at the Roundhouse. All three wins for the Express have come in a shootout during the series. The most recent matchup between the teams resulted in a 5-4 shootout win for the Express on January 3 at Trenton. The Titans begin this week right behind the Express in the standings with a 29-18-8 record (66 pts., 4th NE Div.). The Express is 13-17-2 all-time vs. Trenton.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 at READING 7:05 p.m.

The Express travels to Reading, PA for the final time this season on Friday night. Overall it is the sixth of eight meetings this year between the Northeast Division rivals. The Express is 4-1-0 this season vs. the Royals. The most recent meeting came on January 19, with the Express winning 6-5 in a shootout in Reading. Express forward Joe Dusbabek, who picked up a 10-game suspension on the 19th, will miss the remaining three games between the teams to complete the suspension. The Royals being the week with a record of 28-24-4 (58 pts., 5th NE Div.). Roanoke is 12-6-0 all-time vs. Reading.

SATURDAY, MARCH 1 at TRENTON 7:00 p.m.

The Express makes its final visit of the year to the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ on Saturday night. The game is the eighth of nine games between the teams and the fifth matchup in Trenton. The Express is 3-1-0 vs. the Titans in Trenton.

NEWS & NOTES

GAME RESCHEDULED

RoanokeÂ’s game on Feb. 16 at Greensboro was postponed because of the icy conditions in Virginia and North Carolina that day. The game will be made up on Wednesday, March 26 at 7:00 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.

LEAGUE LEADERS

Three Express players remain in the top ten of league scorers at this point of the season. Dylan Gyori is tied for sixth in the league with 70 points, having picked up 21 goals and 49 assists. Rick Kowalsky and Jason Jaffray are tied with each other for eighth place is with 69 points. Jaffray has scored 29 goals and picked up 40 assists, and Kowalsky has now earned 23 goals and 43 helpers. Jaffray continues to lead all ECHL rookies with his goal, assist and point totals.

PLAYER MOVEMENT

The most recent move made to the Express roster was the call-up of rookie goaltender Sebastien Laplante to the Norfolk Admirals of the American Hockey League last Monday. Laplante has played in 35 games for Roanoke this year and is 18-11-2 on the season. Laplante may rejoin the Express this week.

HOT STREAKÂ’S

Several players currently have point-scoring streaks for the Express. Mike Peron has picked up points in four straight games (1 G, 3 AÂ…Cam Bristow has points in four of the last six games (4 G, 1 A)Â…Jason Jaffray has points in six of the last eight games (3 G, 11 A)Â… Rick Kowalsky has a point in five of the last seven games (1 G, 5 A)Â…Joe Dusbabek has scored points in eight of his last 11 games (5 G, 9 A) Â…Goaltender Evan Lindsay has a 1.50 goals against average in his last two starts, and stopped 69 of 72 shots in those games.

COACH’S SHOW: The next edition of “Coach’s Corner LIVE!” will be held on March 4 from 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. from Cornerstone Bar & Grill. Fans are encouraged to attend to show which features Express broadcaster Kevin Reiter and Head Coach Tony MacAulay. This week’s special guests will be Express forwards Shawn Limpright and David Silverstone.

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