Roanoke Express Weekly

Published on December 15, 2003 under ECHL (ECHL)
Roanoke Express News Release


ROANOKE, VA – The Roanoke Express rebounded to a perfect 3-0-0 record this past weekend. The Express, who lost all three games last week, recovered to move into a tie for second place in the division. The Express enters this week with a record of 15-9-1, (31 pts., T-2nd place in Southern Division).

LAST WEEK'S ACTION

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2003 vs. FLORENCE 6-4 Win

The Express and Florence Pride played the second of three consecutive games against each other on Friday night at the Roanoke Civic Center, and the Express picked up a 6-4 win against its Southern Division rival.

The teams swapped goals for the first 25 minutes of the game before Roanoke exploded with three consecutive tallies in the second period. The Pride opened the scoring with a short handed goal nine minutes into the game, but the Express tied the game on an even strength goal by Joe Dusbabek at 16:02 of the first period. Florence regained the lead with a late first period goal, coming with just 55 seconds left.

In the second period Tim O'Connell knotted the score once again with his seventh goal of the year at 4:34. However, Florence grabbed its third lead of the game just 18 seconds later to open a 3-2 lead. The Express then peppered the Pride for three straight goals to open a 5-3 Roanoke advantage by the 14:07 mark of the middle period. Doug Scatchard, Kevin Bergin and Shawn Limpright each scored for the Express in a six and a half minute span to put the Express on top. The Pride battled back to cut the lead to one with a late second period goal, but Roanoke sealed the win at 9:16 of the third period on Dan Carney's fourth goal of the season.

Jason Wolfe started in goal for the Express and made 41 saves en-route to picking up his sixth win of the season. Roanoke finished the night 0-for-3 on the power play, and Florence went 1-for-3 on the man advantage. The win gave the Express a 2-0-1 record vs. Florence this season.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2003 at FLORENCE 3-2 Shootout Win

The Express and the Pride played their third straight game versus each other on Saturday night at the Florence Civic Center. For the third time in the season series, the game was decided by a shootout, with the Express coming out with a 3-2 victory.

All the scoring took place in the second period with the Pride tallying the first two goals in the first 4:29 of the middle stanza. Roanoke regrouped to notch two goals in the period as well, to tie the game 2-2 after two periods. Duncan Dalmao put the Express on the scoreboard at 11:13 of the period with a shot from the right point, and Dan Carney tied the game at 16:51 with a wrist shot from the slot.

Neither team took the lead in regulation, sending the game to overtime. Likewise, no one scored in the five-minute overtime period, pushing the game to a shootout.

In the shootout, Roanoke scored on four of its five chances, and the Pride scoring on three of five shots. Express goaltender Jason Wolfe stopped Victor Gervais in the fifth and final round to seal the win after Kevin Bergin and scored on Roanoke's fifth attempt. Wolfe stopped 34 shots overall in regulation and overtime to raise his record to 7-4-0. Both teams finished 0-for4 on the power play.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2003 at GREENVILLE 4-1 Win

The Express skated against the Greenville Grrrowl for the third of six times this season on Sunday afternoon at the BI-LO Center in Greenville, SC, and collected a 4-1 win. It was the second time the Express has picked up a 4-1 victory at the BI-LO Center this season.

Roanoke recovered nicely after surrendering the first goal of the contest five minutes into the first period when Doug Scatchard put Roanoke on the board with his fifth goal of the season eighth minutes into the first period. The game remained tied at one entering the second period when the Express took control. Joe Dusbabek and Andrew McPherson each scored in the middle period to open a 3-1 lead after two periods of play. McPherson then sealed the game for Roanoke with his second goal of the night midway through the third period.

David Belitski played strong in goal for the Express making several big saves in the second half of the contest to earn the win. Belitski stopped 29 of 30 Greenville shots to raise his record to 8-5-1. On the power play, Roanoke scored on one of its five chances, and the Grrrowl went scoreless on their four opportunities. The win gave the Express a 2-1-0 record vs. Greenville this season.

UPCOMING GAMES

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2003 at COLUMBIA 7:30 p.m.

The Express and the Columbia Inferno meet for the second of six times on the season on Friday night at the Carolina Coliseum in Columbia, SC. The Express earned a 4-3 shootout win in the first meeting of the season between the Southern Division rivals on November 8 at the Roanoke Civic Center. Entering this week, the Inferno holds a record of 14-6-2 (30 pts., 4th Southern Division.), but has lost three of its last four games. Roanoke is 1-2-0 all-time vs. Columbia.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2003 vs. CINCINNATI 7:30 p.m.

Roanoke and the Cincinnati Cyclones meet for the second and final time this season on Saturday night at the Roanoke Civic Center. The Express collected its first win of the season on Oct. 24 at Cincinnati with a 3-2 win. The Cyclones begin the week with an overall record of 12-12-1 (25 pts., 6th Northern Division). The Cyclones are 5-6-0 this season on the road. All-time, the Express is 8-5-1 vs. Cincinnati.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2003 vs. GREENSBORO 4:00 p.m.

The Express takes on the Greensboro Generals for the third time this season on Sunday afternoon at the Roanoke Civic Center. In what has been a wild, high-scoring season series, the Express holds a 1-1-0 record against the Generals. The first game of the season series resulted in a 6-4 Roanoke victory on Nov. 1 at the Roundhouse. The most recent match-up went to the Generals, who walloped the Express

8-6 on Nov. 21 at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Express hosts the Generals a total of four times this season. Greensboro begins the week tied for second with the Express in the Southern Division standings with 31 points (15-8-1 record). Roanoke is 18-12-2 all-time vs. Greensboro.

NEWS & NOTES

SPECIAL TEAMS: Entering this week, the Express is 8th on the power play (20.4%) and is 16th on the penalty kill (83.9%).

HOME SWEET HOME: After beginning the season losing its first two home games, the Express has won eight of the last ten 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, South Carolina, Las Vegas, Florida, and Florence. Only Greenville and Florence have tripped up the Express of late at the Roundhouse.

THE SIN BIN: Entering this week's action, the Express continues to lead the league in average penalty minutes per game. Roanoke is averaging 32.8 minutes a game. Roanoke also leads the league in minor penalties against with 237, and total penalty minutes with 819. At the same time, Roanoke has done well drawing penalties with opponents racking up the second highest total in the league against the Express.

SHOOTING GALLERY: Express goaltender Jason Wolfe is still facing a lot of rubber when he starts in goal. The 6-foot-5 netminder has faced an incredible 377 shots in his last nine starts. That's an average of 41.8 shots per start for Wolfe in that span, and overall this season, he has seen an average of 41.7 shots per game played in.

MILESTONE: Express forward Joe Dusbabek is played in his 200th professional game on Friday night versus the Florence Pride. The former member of the Notre Dame University hockey program has played his entire career with the Roanoke Express.

WHO'S HOT: D Duncan Dalmao has four points in his last four games, and is a plus-7 in that span... C Dan Carney has picked up 3 goals and 1 assist in his last five games...LW Shawn Limpright has scored a point in nine of the last 10 games (8 G, 9 A)...C Jeremy Kyte has an assist in four straight games...

RW Doug Scatchard has picked up five points (2 G, 3 A) in his last five games...D Josh Barker has a plus/minus rating of plus-9 in the last four games...LW Joe Dusbabek has scored a point in 9 of the last 11 games (4 G, 12 A)...G David Belitski has won 8 of his last 12 starts.

TEAM & LEAGUE LEADERS: After 25 games, Shawn Limpright leads the team with 31 points, which tied him for 7th in overall league scoring. Limpright also leads the league with eight power play goals, and is second in the league with 17 power play points. Duncan Dalmao is second in the league with 13 power play assists. Defenseman Tim O'Connell leads the entire league with 123 shots on goal.

UPCOMING PRACTICE AND GAME SCHEDULE

Monday, December 15 OFF

Tuesday, December 16 9:00 a.m. practice @ The Ice Station

Wednesday, December 17 10:00 a.m. practice @ The Ice Station

Thursday, December 18 3:00 p.m. practice @ The Ice Station

Friday, December 19 7:30 p.m. GAME vs. Columbia @ The Carolina Coliseum

Saturday, December 20 7:30 p.m. GAME vs. Cincinnati @ The Roanoke Civic Center

Sunday, December 21 4:00 p.m. GAME vs. Greensboro @ The Roanoke Civic Center

(All practice times and locations are subject to change)

ALL EXPRESS GAMES ARE BROADCAST LIVE ON THE 3WR RADIO NETWORK, 910 AM IN ROANOKE AND 990 AM IN BLACKSBURG. ALL GAMES ARE LIVE ON THE INTERNET AT www.wcqv.com

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