McSorley ices team after loss

Tim Graham

Wednesday, Oct. 23, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

The Las Vegas Thunder is one of the most fearsome teams to face when it owns a home-ice advantage.

The Houston Aeros are one of the most pathetic road teams in the International Hockey League.

Observe the two together in the Thomas & Mack Center and what is the conclusion? The Thunder needs more practice.

The Aeros broke an eight-game road losing streak with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory over the Thunder in a Southwest Division contest Tuesday night, prompting head coach Chris McSorley to order a 20-minute practice session minutes after the final horn.

"Losing at home is unacceptable," said McSorley, whose squad fell to 5-5-1, the fourth time this season it has been at .500.

The Thunder led 3-2 heading into the third period, but a power-play goal from Aeros defenseman Dave Baseggio at 4:08 tied the score.

Then at 14:56, Darcy Werenka scored the game winner, and he didn't even mean to do it. From just inside the blue line, Werenka sent a weak shot just inside the right post and Thunder goaltender Igor Karpenko, in just his second game of the season and home debut, never saw it.

"I was just trying to get (the puck) on net," said Werenka, who was traded to Houston from Quebec Oct. 16. "I wasn't shooting to score. I didn't think it was going to go in, but I can't complain with the way it turned out."

McSorley sure could.

"Our forwards gotta block the puck," said McSorley, who drilled his team on just that matter. "As I watched that shot, my heart fell below my belt line."

McSorley is leaning heavily toward starting Karpenko again Friday night when Las Vegas hosts Long Beach. He hopes the move will keep the 20-year-old Russian from losing all confidence, which obviously was dwindling.

"My fault," Karpenko said, struggling to string together two English words while sitting all alone in the Thunder dressing room. "I failed."

Karpenko saved 25 of 29 shots and fell to 0-2-0.

"That kid has nothing to be ashamed of," McSorley said. "He gave us a chance to win tonight."

Las Vegas actually had several shots late in the game, even after the eventual game winner was scored, but Houston goalie Frederic Chabot was spectacular at point-blank range. Within the final eight seconds, Chabot turned back three rapid-fire shots after Karpenko had been pulled.

"I saw everything," Chabot said of the Thunder's desperate barrage. "They were in real close and banging the puck and then finally the last shot went wide."

Chabot stopped 28 of 31 Thunder shots and improved to 3-3-1 on the season.

Former Thunder member Guy Larose broke the scoring before most of the 6,806 in attendance had a chance to settle into their seats.

On the first shot of the game, Larose beat Karpenko at 1:18 for his fourth goal of the season. Greig picked up his first point of the season, while Mark Lamb got his team-high sixth assist.

It wasn't until the second period that Las Vegas scored. At 3:18, the Thunder's Egor Bashkatov gift wrapped a pass to Jason Simon, who wristed a point-blank shot for his first goal of the season.

But a high-sticking penalty on the Thunder's Konstantin Peregudov at 13:18 gave the Aeros a power-play opportunity, and 1:14 later it was converted. Graeme Townshend scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season.

That lead lasted less than three minutes, and the tie lasted 14 seconds, as the Thunder turned into lightning. At 16:53, Las Vegas' Rhett Trombley tallied his first goal of the season, on another beautiful Bashkatov pass, to tie the score at 2. Then, at 17:07, Jeff Serowik netted his third to make the score 3-2.

Thunderbolts

* DON'T BLINK: For the second time in a one-week span, the Thunder scored a pair of amazingly quick back-to-back goals against the Aeros. Goals from Rhett Trombley and Jeff Serowik in a matter of 14 seconds marked the third fastest back-to-back scoring strike in Thunder history. The record of nine seconds was set Oct. 15 when Martin Gendron and Brent Gretzky scored in 10 seconds against the Aeros. ... Gendron and Gretzky's tandem broke a team record for an Aeros opponent. The former record of 13 seconds was set Dec. 22, 1995 against Cincinnati.

* INFIRMARY: Thunder defenseman Kerry Huffman left the game in the first period with a slightly sprained right knee and did not return. ... The scratches included centers Brent Gretzky and Sergei Zholtok. Gretzky was out with a right shoulder contusion. Zholtok still is battling a pulled right groin muscle he suffered against the Aeros last week but the Thunder think he should be ready by Friday.