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 Barons: Weekly Report
3/28
Barons whittle playoff magic number to
three
3/28/04 - by Craig Haueter
As
Cleveland bears down on a post-season berth, Jon DiSalvatore, Marcel Goc, Ryane
Clowe and Grant Stevenson emerged to lead the Barons to two wins and a tie this
week behind their combined 8 goals and 12 assists. The recently dormant power
play for the Barons also broke loose racking up five goals in fifteen
attempts.
Wednesday night at Gund Arena, the Barons jumped out to a 4-0
lead after just eight minutes and went on to defeat the Chicago Wolves by a
score of 7-4. Rookie right winger Jon DiSalvatore notched his first career hat
trick and forward Marcel Goc scored two goals. Not to be overshadowed by the
offensive firepower of both teams in the first period, the middle stanza was
filled with great defense and solid goaltending. The Barons successfully killed
off two separate 5-on-3 Chicago power plays. Barons goalie Seamus Kotyk made
the save of the game late in the second period as he robbed Brendan Yarema on a
rebound shot in front of the goal with a diving save.
Barons defenseman
Jesse Fibiger scored the flukiest of fluky goals Friday night in the first
period at home against Toronto. With the Barons leading, 1-0, midway through
the first, Fibiger attempted to dump the puck from the red line. As it zipped
toward the left boards, Toronto goalie Tyler Moss moved behind the net to play
it. The puck caromed off a support beam for the glass above the boards, took a
hard right and skidded into a wide-open net. Fibiger finished with two goals to
earn first star honors. Grant Stevenson, Nick Bootland and Marcel Goc also
scored to lead Cleveland to a 5-2 win. Stevenson added an assist, giving him
multi-point games in four of his last five. Nolan Schaefer returned to action
in goal for the Barons after his brief call-up to San Jose turning in a solid
effort with 35 saves. Cleveland's penalty killers were dominant in going
4-for-4. Toronto had minimal scoring opportunities as the Barons were effective
in cutting off the passing lanes and not allowing rebound chances.
Saturday night in Cincinnati, the Barons fought back from a 3-1 deficit to gain
a 3-3 tie with the Mighty Ducks. Shane Joseph's first professional goal with
2:46 remaining in regulation tied things up for good. For the 41st time this
season, the Barons scored the first goal of the game as Ryane Clowe connected
on a pass from Willie Levesque for Clowe's 11th goal of the season. Captain
Tavis Hansen accounted for the other Barons tally with a power play goal midway
through the second period. Tony Martensson had a goal and an assist to lead the
Mighty Ducks.
The Barons return home Sunday night for a key division
battle with Syracuse and then head out on the road for three key games this
week at Syracuse, Toronto and Hamilton.
Barons notes
Jon
DiSalvatore's first goal Wednesday night took a mere 11 seconds into the game
setting a new Barons' record for fastest goal to open a game or a period this
season, surpassing Miroslav Zalesak's at :17 on December 19.
Referee
Scott Hoberg continued his pattern of leaving both teams frustrated after a
game he works Wednesday night. He whistled both Yuri Moscevsky of the Barons
and Shawn Heins of the Wolves for abuse of officials and in fact tossed Heins
from the game as well. Hoberg issued an abusive language penalty to Craig
Valette as they were leaving the ice after the second period and earlier in the
period put the Barons in a 2-man disadvantage after tagging Christian Ehrhoff
for misconduct after questioning Hoberg's hooking call against teammate Patrick
Rissmiller.
A couple of incidents late in the game Friday night
might make the return engagement next Friday night when the Barons travel to
Toronto interesting. Toronto's enforcer Rocky Thompson shook up Nick Bootland
with a jab to the head that left Bootland sprawled on the ice for several
minutes. Barons defenseman Matt Carkner gave Thompson a face wash with his
glove at the conclusion of the game in retaliation. In addition, Patrick
Rissmiller of the Barons dropped the gloves with Jamie Wright of the
Roadrunners. Not many punches were thrown, but by the time the two were
separated, Wright had lost his gloves, jersey, helmet and upper body
padding.
Cincinnati made both a rare request and received a rare
penalty in return Saturday night. Immediately after Ryane Clowe's first period
goal, the Mighty Ducks called for a stick measurement on Clowe. They were
denied and received a delay-of-game penalty instead. It would not be hard for
someone to question Clowe's recent offensive prowess, gaining 6 points in the
last 3 games. Ryane is also known as an aggressive checker.
The Barons
now have a weekly one-hour radio talk show on Monday evenings from 7pm-8 pm
(eastern time) on WKNR 850-am. San Jose fans can call the show by dialing (216)
578-0850 or listen to the show on WKNR's website.
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