November 21, 2001

Zalesak delivers for friend
Winger's two goals support Kiprusoff
Mary Schmitt Boyer
Plain Dealer Reporter

Barons right wing Miroslav Zalesak welcomed his good buddy, goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, to Cleveland on Monday and took him out to dinner in teh Flats.  Last night Zalesak treated again, getting two goals and an assist, to make sure Kiprusoff emerged with a victory in his return to the AHL.

"He's a good player," Kiprusoff said of Zalesak after the Barons' 4-2 victory over the Rochester Americans in Gund Arena.  "I'm so happy for him.  He's a good player and a good buddy of mine."

Kiprusoff, who started his second straight AHL All-Star gamelast year while playign for this team when it was still in Kentucky, has spent all season with the San Jose Sharks in the NHL.  But playing time was scarce, so the Sharks sent him down to get some work this week, when the Barons play four games in five nights.

Last night, he stopped 26 of 28 shots and got stronger as the game went on.

"It's hard to jump back in the game," Zalesak said of his friend's layoff.  "I thought he played really well."

Barons coach Roy Sommer agreed.

"As the game wore on, you could see he was pretty sharp," Sommer said of Kiprusoff after the Barons improved to 9-8-0-1 and Rochester fell to 5-7-4-1, 1-3-2 on the road.  "There's a big difference [between the AHL and the NHL].  Things happen a lot slower here.  I think it took him a while to adjust.

But Zalesak's goals, Kiprusoff's return, and even the victory were tempered somewhat by the news that leading scorer Jonathan Cheechoo likely will miss several games after injuring his back during the second period.

Cheechoo, who has eight goals and nine assists in 17 games, seemed to catch a rut in the ice in front of the Barons' bench and went shoulder first into the boards.  He lay on the ice for several minutes before doctors helped him to the locker room.  The Barons lost center Ryan Kraft for several games after he suffered a rib injury in Saturday's 6-3 loss to visiting Houston.   Rookie forward Chad Wiseman (ribs) and veteran defenseman Brandon Smith (back) also are hurting.

The Americans dominated the first period and took a 1-0 lead when Jeremy Adduono deflected a shot between the legs of Kiprusoff at 6:14.  The Americans failed to score on the only power play of the period.  That was not much of a surprise.  With a league-low seven percent success rate coming in, the Americas score power play goals about as often as the Ravens beat the Browns.

Zalesak tied the score at 1:14 of the second period, but Chris Taylor's backhand skidded off the cross bar and went in at 5:50.  Mike Craig tied the score with a powerplay goal at 18:34, and Zalesak redirected Smith's slapshot between goalie Mika Noronen's legs at 19:47 to give the Barons their first lead at 3-2.

Graig Mischler rapped in a shot at the left post for his first goal of the year to pus the lead to 4-3 at 13:47 of the third period.