| LAS VEGAS,
Nev. - The Cincinnati Stingers spent Sunday in Las Vegas. When you're hot, why not enjoy
it ? After coming from behind three times Saturday night to escape with a 3-3 tie in San
Diego, the Stingers figure there should be nothing difficult about rolling an eight the
hard way. As long as Claude Larose is around, that is. Larose's
goal with just 2:29 left in regulation play enabled Cincinnati to make off with a point
from a game in which it never led. "When you can come back to tie like that, you fake
the point and run," judged defenseman Ron Plumb, who played in San Diego last season.
The Stingers ran to Las Vegas by way of a break in the middle of a five-game road trip.
They next proceed to Denver for an appearance Tuesday night, then return to San Diego for
a rematch Thursday.
"We need a little change of pace," felt coach Terry
Slater. "We've been on the road too long, seen too many hotel rooms. We're tired and
logy." Slater felt his team played that way during the early portions of Saturday's
game. 'We're a skating team and we weren't skating," he noted. As a result, San Diego
assumed 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 advantages on two goals by defending World Hockey Association
scoring champion Andre Lacroix and another by all-star defenseman Kevin Morrison. All came
from long range. Rookie goaltender John Kiely, who stopped 40 shots, handled everything in
close to keep his side in it.
Peter Donnelly rewarded such industry with a first-period goal and
Rick Dudley did likewise in the second. But Morrison scored with just 10 seconds left in
the middle period with a soft point shot that skipped in front of Kiely, bouncing in over
his stick to make it 3-2. As the clock wound down in the final period, the goal grew
bigger. But Larose finally broke across the blue line two-on-two with Jacques Locas and
rifled a low 40-footer that zipped in between San Diego goaltender Russ Gillow and the
short side post. It was Larose's 17th goal.
Neither team threatened seriously in the remainder of the period or
the 10 minute overtime which followed. When it ended, the jubilant Stingers surrounded
Kiely while the Mariners skated off, heads down. There was little question who had won
this tie. "I think we've turned the corner now," said Slater, after the tie and
a 4-2 victory in Phoenix the previous evening. "Our problems before (during an
eight-game winless streak) were injuries and goaltending. Now we're over most of the
injuries and our goaltending is coming around. Kiely's playing well now. wouldn't
have been happy with this game if we had just flown in from Cincinnati and played it. But
under the circumstances, I was more than happy with the point."
A point is very important. Ask anybody in Las Vegas. |
