nccanes
03-17-2003, 09:53 PM
Lowell fit to be tied
By BARRY SCANLON, Sun Staff
LOWELL He walked gingerly, an ice pack attached to his stomach to numb the pain of being speared in overtime.
But Tomas Kurka managed to smile. It's amazing what a pair of goals will do for a guy.
With Lowell's top five scorers either with the Carolina Hurricanes (Ryan Bayda, Mike Zigomanis, Brad DeFauw), out injured for the rest of the season (Jeff Heerema) or on loan to Springfield (Jeff Daw), the 21-year-old native of the Czech Republic will be counted on to carry much of the scoring load.
Kurka did his part yesterday, scoring both of Lowell's goals in a 2-2 tie with the Norfolk Admirals before 3,931 fans at Tsongas Arena.
"It's not bad, it's just a bruise," Kurka said. "No, I'm just working hard so I'll get called up (to Carolina). I want to show them that I can really do it."
The Hurricanes sent Kurka down to Lowell prior to the game and head coach Ron Smith admitted he wasn't sure what Kurka's mindset was going to be.
"Often guys have their heads in a cloud when they come back," Smith said.
Fortunately for the Lock Monsters (17-44-6-3), who now have a season-high five-game home unbeaten streak, Kurka came ready to play against the South Division-leading Admirals (32-22-10-4).
Despite Kurka's best efforts, the Admirals thought they were just over a minute from a dramatic comeback victory.
The crowd groaned when Peter White put home his own rebound with 1:16 left in regulation. The scoreboard read visitors 3, hosts 2, and White's goal was announced with assists to Mike Peluso and Brett McLean.
But not so fast.
Lowell captain Steve Halko lobbied that the net had been dislodged behind goaltender Randy Petruk prior to White's rebound shot and referee Wes McCauley, after some consultation, waived off the goal.
Given a reprieve, Petruk (43 saves) stopped all seven Norfolk shots he faced during an entertaining five-minute overtime session.
Lowell elected to rest rookie defenseman Igor Knyazev and play five defensemen. When forwards Rustyn Dolyny (broken skate) and Chris McNamara (stick to eye) missed several minutes each in the third period, the Lock Monsters were looking to hang on.
But they couldn't.
"They were a lot of burning legs and burning lungs going on in there," Smith said.
Igor Radulov pulled Norfolk to within 2-1 at 9:55 of the third period when he outfought Greg Kuznik in front and redirected in McLean's centering pass.
Three and a half minutes later, following a huge goalmouth scramble, Petruk was burned for hitting the ice too early when defenseman Kent Huskins swooped in and easily scored his fifth goal of the season.
Lowell, which outshot 45-26, played its best during the first period. After being outshot 6-0 to start the game, the Lock Monsters finished the opening 20 minutes with a 13-7 shots edge.
Thanks to Kurka, the Lock Monsters scored on two of their six shots of the second period while Petruk denied all 18 of Norfolk's bids.
Kurka got Lowell on the board at 5:00 when he broke past an Admiral along the right boards, cut down right wing and uncorked a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle before Norfolk's Marty Wilford and Ryan Gaucher could deflect the shot.
He made it a 2-0 game at 11:58 following a terrific effort by Dolyny. Dolyny first deflected a pass inside Norfolk's zone, retrieved the puck himself, and spotted a wide-open Kurka cruising down the slot.
Kurka wasted no time hammering a shot past Michael Leighton for his 16th goal of the winter.
"He had two great goals, to be sure," Smith said.
Lowell continues its eight-game homestand by hosting Worcester on Thursday.
By BARRY SCANLON, Sun Staff
LOWELL He walked gingerly, an ice pack attached to his stomach to numb the pain of being speared in overtime.
But Tomas Kurka managed to smile. It's amazing what a pair of goals will do for a guy.
With Lowell's top five scorers either with the Carolina Hurricanes (Ryan Bayda, Mike Zigomanis, Brad DeFauw), out injured for the rest of the season (Jeff Heerema) or on loan to Springfield (Jeff Daw), the 21-year-old native of the Czech Republic will be counted on to carry much of the scoring load.
Kurka did his part yesterday, scoring both of Lowell's goals in a 2-2 tie with the Norfolk Admirals before 3,931 fans at Tsongas Arena.
"It's not bad, it's just a bruise," Kurka said. "No, I'm just working hard so I'll get called up (to Carolina). I want to show them that I can really do it."
The Hurricanes sent Kurka down to Lowell prior to the game and head coach Ron Smith admitted he wasn't sure what Kurka's mindset was going to be.
"Often guys have their heads in a cloud when they come back," Smith said.
Fortunately for the Lock Monsters (17-44-6-3), who now have a season-high five-game home unbeaten streak, Kurka came ready to play against the South Division-leading Admirals (32-22-10-4).
Despite Kurka's best efforts, the Admirals thought they were just over a minute from a dramatic comeback victory.
The crowd groaned when Peter White put home his own rebound with 1:16 left in regulation. The scoreboard read visitors 3, hosts 2, and White's goal was announced with assists to Mike Peluso and Brett McLean.
But not so fast.
Lowell captain Steve Halko lobbied that the net had been dislodged behind goaltender Randy Petruk prior to White's rebound shot and referee Wes McCauley, after some consultation, waived off the goal.
Given a reprieve, Petruk (43 saves) stopped all seven Norfolk shots he faced during an entertaining five-minute overtime session.
Lowell elected to rest rookie defenseman Igor Knyazev and play five defensemen. When forwards Rustyn Dolyny (broken skate) and Chris McNamara (stick to eye) missed several minutes each in the third period, the Lock Monsters were looking to hang on.
But they couldn't.
"They were a lot of burning legs and burning lungs going on in there," Smith said.
Igor Radulov pulled Norfolk to within 2-1 at 9:55 of the third period when he outfought Greg Kuznik in front and redirected in McLean's centering pass.
Three and a half minutes later, following a huge goalmouth scramble, Petruk was burned for hitting the ice too early when defenseman Kent Huskins swooped in and easily scored his fifth goal of the season.
Lowell, which outshot 45-26, played its best during the first period. After being outshot 6-0 to start the game, the Lock Monsters finished the opening 20 minutes with a 13-7 shots edge.
Thanks to Kurka, the Lock Monsters scored on two of their six shots of the second period while Petruk denied all 18 of Norfolk's bids.
Kurka got Lowell on the board at 5:00 when he broke past an Admiral along the right boards, cut down right wing and uncorked a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle before Norfolk's Marty Wilford and Ryan Gaucher could deflect the shot.
He made it a 2-0 game at 11:58 following a terrific effort by Dolyny. Dolyny first deflected a pass inside Norfolk's zone, retrieved the puck himself, and spotted a wide-open Kurka cruising down the slot.
Kurka wasted no time hammering a shot past Michael Leighton for his 16th goal of the winter.
"He had two great goals, to be sure," Smith said.
Lowell continues its eight-game homestand by hosting Worcester on Thursday.