Roanoke Express Weekly

Published on November 17, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express continued their climb to the top of the standings by going 2-1-0 this past week. The Express won one of two games on the road, and extended its home winning streak to five straight games. The Express enters this week with a record of 8-5-0, (16 pts., T3rd place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2003 at FLORENCE 4-3 Shootout Win

The Express took on its new division rival, the Florence Pride for the first of five times this season last Thursday night at the Florence Civic Center, and escaped with a 4-3 win in a shootout, to push its winning streak to six straight games.

The game started fast for the Express, scoring twice in the first 3:36 of the game. Shawn Limpright opened the scoring at 1:19 of the first period, and Doug Scatchard gave Roanoke a 2-0 lead at 3:36. The Express tallied for a third time in the first period when Rick Kowalsky scored with just 1:36 left before the first intermission.

Holding what seemed to be a comfortable lead, the Express watched the Pride battle back into the game. The Pride got on the scoreboard with a late second period goal, and then added two late third period goals to tie the game at three with under four minutes left in the game. The Express dug in to survive a late charge by Florence, and saw the game go to overtime. For the second straight game, the Express needed extra time to decide a game. Neither team scored in the overtime period, and in the shootout, the Express scored on its first and fifth attempts, while the Pride only managed a goal on its second attempt. Joe Dusbabek, scored the deciding goal to give the Express the extra point in the standings.

David Belitski won his sixth straight game as well, by stopping 36 of 39 Florence shots, and stopping four of five Pride shooters in the shootout. Beliski's record climbed to 6-2-0.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2003 at GWINNETT 4-2 Loss

The Express saw its six-game win streak come to an end in a hard-fought battle against the Gwinnett Gladiators on Saturday night in Duluth, GA.

Roanoke once again found themselves on top quickly into the contest, when Andrew McPherson gave the Express a 1-0 lead just 3:10 into the game. The Gladiators battled back to tie the game at one at 6:30 of the opening period. With the game tied 1-1 after one period, Gwinnett tallied twice in the middle stanza to open a 3-1 lead after two periods of play. The Express climbed to within one goal when Tim O'Connell notched a power play goal at 11:22 of the third period. Trailing 3-2, the Express pulled goaltender David Belitski for the extra attacker with 2:30 left in the game, but could not take advantage. The Gladiators sealed the win with an empty net goal with 1:23 remaining in the game.

Belitski, who was starting in his seventh straight game, suffered the loss, seeing his personal six-game win streak come to an end as well. Belitski faced 38 shots and stopped 35, but saw his record fall to 6-3-0.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2003 vs. SOUTH CAROLINA 3-1 Win

The Express skated against the South Carolina Stingrays for the first of five times this season on Sunday afternoon, and came away with a 3-1 win to increase its home winning streak to five straight games.

The teams played to a deadlock in the first period, with neither team able to dent the twine. The Express carried the play firing a team-high 22 shots on goal in one period on South Carolina netminder David Brumby. Bumby stood tall making several key saves to keep the Express of the board. However, in the second period the Express scored on its first shot of the period, when Joe Dusbabek rifled a slap shot past Brumby to give Roanoke a 1-0 lead just 1:16 into the middle frame. The Express held the 1-0 lead into the third period, but saw the Stingrays jam home the tying goal on the power play at 3:07 of the third period. The game remained tied at one until Rick Kowalsky scored his seventh goal of the year with 4:27 left in the game to give Roanoke a 2-1 lead. The Stingrays pulled their goaltender for the extra attacker, but the Express sealed the win when Jeremy Kyte slipped home and empty net goal.

Jason Wolfe collected the win in goal for the Express. Wolfe was making his first appearance in goal since Oct. 28, and stopped 32 of 33 South Carolina shots to raise his record to 2-2-0.

UPCOMING GAMES

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2003 vs. Las Vegas 7:00 p.m.

Roanoke takes on the Las Vegas Wranglers for the only time this season. Las Vegas is the second of four teams the Express will face from the newly added teams to the ECHL. Roanoke opened the season against Long Beach, and will later this season face Alaska and Bakersfield. The Wranglers enter this week tied for the most points in the ECHL. Las Vegas is 9-2-3 (21 pts., 1st place, Pacific Division).

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2003 at Greensboro 7:30 p.m.

The makes its first visit of the season to the Greensboro Coliseum on Friday night. Overall it is the second of seven meetings between the Southern Division rivals. The first meeting resulted in a 6-4 Express win on November 1 at the Roanoke Civic Center. The game will be the first of three in Greensboro. The Generals begin this week's action with a record of 8-5-0 (16 pts., T3rd Southern Division). Roanoke is 18-11-2 all-time vs. Greensboro.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2003 at Dayton 4:00 p.m.

The Express and Dayton Bombers meet for the first of four times this season on Sunday afternoon in Dayton, OH. Each team will have two home games in the series. Last season the Express lost the only meeting between the teams 5-1 on Feb. 1. Dayton enters this week having played the fewest games in the ECHL with nine. The Bombers begin this week with a record of 3-6-0 (6 pts., 9th Northern Division). The Express is 8-13-5 all-time vs. the Bombers.

NEWS & NOTES

STREAKING!: The Express has won seven of its last eight games, and has outscored its opponents

28-17 in that span. In those games, the Express has scored the first goal of the game in seven of the eight games.

SPECIALTIES: Entering this week, the Express is 10th on the power play (19.0%) and is 9th on the penalty kill (85.1%).

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE: After beginning the season losing its first two home games, the Express has won five straight games at the Roanoke Civic Center. The streak began on Nov. 1 with a win against Greensboro. Since then, the Express has added wins against Charlotte, Augusta, Columbia, and South Carolina.

MILESTONES: Several milestones are within grasp by Express players; F Joe Dusbabek is 8 games shy of his 200th pro game played in...F Dan Carlson needs 46 games to reach 200...F Dan Carney is four points shy of his 200th career point...D Duncan Dalmao needs two goals to tally his 50th career goal.

WHO'S HOT: D Duncan Dalmao has points in four of the last five games (0 G, 5 A)...LW Shawn Limpright has scored a point in eight of the last ten games (4 G, 6 A)...C Dan Carlson has a point in six straight games (3 G, 5 A)...RW Rick Kowalsky has collected a point in five straight games (5 G, 4 A)...G David Belitski has won six of his last seven starts (2.10 GAA, .938 SV %).

TEAM & LEAGUE LEADERS: After 13 games, Dan Carlson leads the Express with 17 points (6 G, 11 A), which also ranks him 12th in the ECHL in total points. Rick Kowalsky is now second on the team in scoring with 15 points (7 G, 8 A), and Shawn Limpright is third on the team with 14 points. Defenseman Tim O'Connell leads the team with 59 shots, and is third overall in the ECHL in that department.

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