LV goalie stops 51 Viper shots in win

Tuesday, Dec. 10, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- At the end of regulation, Las Vegas Thunder goaltender Andrei Mezin had stopped an astounding 46 of 48 Detroit Vipers shots. But it wasn't enough.

With the score tied at 2, the Thunder's backup netminder turned away all five of the Vipers' shootout attempts to give Las Vegas a 3-2 victory Monday night at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

And every ounce of Mezin's effort was needed. The patchwork Thunder, which continue to play effectively despite a myriad of injuries, managed only 16 shots in the game, including five in the second and third periods.

But Las Vegas right wings Martin Gendron and Patrice Lefebvre each beat Detroit goalie Rich Parent in the extra session.

The Thunder, now 18-9-2 and still atop the IHL's Southwest Division with 38 points, has won two straight on the road. So far on its nine-game trip, which won't see the team return to Las Vegas until Dec. 26, it is 2-2.

With the loss, Detroit fell to 18-7-3 for 39 points, good enough for second place behind Orlando in the Northeast Division.

After a scoreless first period, Gendron netted his team-leading 18th goal of the season to put Las Vegas ahead just 38 seconds into the second. On the play, Lance Brady recorded his second assist since joining the Thunder, while Darcy Loewen notched his fifth.

Detroit answered exactly 12 minutes later when Patrice Tardif scored his fourth goal of the season off assists from Brad Shaw and Mike Donnelly.

The Vipers went ahead 2-1 at 3:42 of the third period when Donnelly scored his eighth of the season, with former Thunder Todd Simon picking up an assist.

Egor Bashkatov then put Las Vegas into position for the shootout with an unassisted score at 10:10. It was his 11th goal of the season.