Admirals' Laforest discovers shootout cure

Mark Laforest discovered the perfect cure for his shootout sickness Wednesday night.

With a dose of determination, Laforest helped the Milwaukee Admirals escape with a 5-4 victory over the San Diego Gulls at the Bradley Center.

It was the third straight time the two teams have played a shootout, and San Diego had won the previous two.

Laforest had not won a shootout in six tries, but he did not send the crowd of 4,920 home disappointed. He decided the best way to win a shootout was not to allow any San Diego shots to get by him.

It was easier said than done, but Laforest knocked away all six attempts by the Gulls. Milwaukee's Sylvain Couturier then ended the shootout by beating San Diego goalie Allan Bester for the lone shootout tally.

Afterward Laforest fell flat on his back on the Bradley Center ice, before getting up so his teammates could mob him.

"When I fell to the ice at the end that was the monkey coming off my back," he said. "I lost all my balance, and bang, down I went."

The Gulls went down, too, thanks to some new shootout strategy by Laforest.

"Instead of watching us going down and getting all excited for that, I just put my head down and focused on the next guy coming down," he said. "They made some moves, but I got lucky on a couple of them and we pulled out the win. Thank God."

Laforest didn't know it at the time, but he actually got in some shootout practice a mere 1:06 into the game. San Diego's Todd Gillingham was awarded a penalty shot after he was dragged down on a breakaway by Admiral defenseman Dave Marcinyshyn.

Gillingham, a burly right wing who tips the scales at 202 pounds, did not set any speed record while lumbering in for his penalty shot. When he finally arrived in the attacking zone, Laforest was still awake and made the save.

"The last penalty shot I had was I think in 1988 when I was with Philadelphia," said Laforest. "It was a defenseman from the Rangers. He piped one in.

"I don't remember how many I had in the pros, but I remember that one because he scored."

The Admirals made it a night to remember with yet another third-period rally. The Gulls carried a 3-2 lead into the final period thanks to a pair of goals by Valeri Karpov, who was loaned to San Diego by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

San Diego kept its lead until Martin Simard scored for the Admirals with 7:20 left in the game. He was spinning as he unloaded the blast, but it found the net.

"I went for the net and got the puck on my stick," he said. "I really didn't look. I just got lucky."

The luck went Milwaukee's way again with 5:03 to play when Brian Dobbin rammed a rebound past Bester to make it 4-3.

San Diego wasn't finished. Maxim Bets unloaded a blast that hit off the post and went into the net with 3:46 left in regulation.

Although the Gulls had the momentum, the Admirals had Laforest. And soon they had a shootout victory.

"It's about time he won one of those darn things," joked Admiral Coach Phil Wittliff. "We didn't play a great game, but we won.

Copyright 1995
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