| Jacques
Demers could only shake his head and wonder when the breaks would begin coming the way of
his Cincinnati Stingers after the Edmonton Oilers caught the Stingers in overtime Friday
night, 4-3. The Stingers led 2-1 at the end of one period, 3-2 at the end of two, and
seemingly had the game in hand in the final 20 minutes only to have a goal disallowed. If
it was a goal, and Demers believes it was. After Ron Chipperfield scored his second goal
of the evening to tie the game at 3-3, Blaine Stoughton triggered a hard shot which Oilers
goalie Dave Dryden had trouble with. The puck appeared to trickle across the goal line.
Dryden reached back and slapped the puck out,, and referee Peter Moffat ruled that the
puck had not crossed the line. No goal. "I felt certain
the puck had gone in" said a somewhat frustrated Demers as his team prepared for a
game in Winnipeg tonight (8:30 p.m.) against the Jets. "But Moffat said he didn't see
the puck and the goal judge didn't turn the red light on." Of course, the goal judge
lives in Edmonton, not Cincinnati, so close calls from that position are going to go in
favor of the Oilers. Several Stingers argued with Moffat at length to no avail, that
Stoughton had scored a goal. "We played to win," Demers lamented.
"Everybody was ready. We played better than we did against Edmonton Wednesday night.
Naturally, the guys are disappointed. I don't know when the breaks are going to start our
way."
Instead, Edmonton got some breaks Friday night, including a lack of
penalties until the third period. "They had four power plays before they got a
penalty," Demers said. "And they scored on one of them." However,
Cincinnati did finally get the power play midway through the last period and again in the
final four minutes, but couldn't convert the man advantage into a goal. The Stingers need
a victory in Winnipeg tonight to come back home on the winning side of the five-game road
trip. They beat Quebec, 6-5, and Winnipeg, 3-2, on successive nights, only to have
Edmonton beat them twice. "We need a win in Winnipeg," said Demers. "It
would give us a big boost coming back home. We just have to keep working."
Demers gave the starting nod in goal to rookie Mike Liut once again
for Winnipeg. The Stingers will still be minus two players in Winnipeg, with forward
Jacques Locas and defenseman Barry Melrose nursing groin injuries. The loss of Melrose is
probably more damaging than Locas' inability to perform. With Melrose off, Demers must go
with five defensemen including rookie Craig Norwich. The forward line of center Robbie
Ftorek and winners Rick Dudley and Dennis Abgrall continue to be the big producers for the
Stingers. Ftorek recorded his 14th goal of the season Friday night with assists to Dudley
and Abgrall. |
