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Albany Goalie Justin Peters Earns Two Big Shutouts

March 23, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


The River Rats got off to a rocky start in Week 24 as they suffered a 7-2 home loss at the hands of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The game was a make-up date, originally scheduled for February 22nd, and did not goal Albany's way. The Rats trailed 3-1 after the first period and 4-2 after the second before the Penguins tacked on three more goals in the third period. After a day off and two rigorous days of practice, a refocused River Rats team was a different team on Friday night in Providence. Led by some fantastic goaltending from Justin Peters the Rats held the offensive Bruins squad in check and won 1-0 in a shootout. Saturday night in Syracuse it looked like Albany was on their way to a second-straight win, as captain Pat Dwyer scored a hat trick and gave his team a 4-3 lead just 35 second into the third period. But the Crunch had the final response as Alexandre Picard's fourth goal of the night sealed a 5-4 Syracuse win. Albany rebounded on Sunday back at home with another stellar performance from Peters, who stopped all 32 shots he faced to blank Philadelphia 2-0.

Injuries continued to pile up for Albany, who lost defenseman Bryan Rodney to an injury during Monday's game and then assistant captain Mike Angelidis suffered a season-ending injury on Friday night in Providence. The River Rats added defenseman Dominic D'Amour from the ECHL's Florida Everblades on Friday and then signed UMass-Amherst forward Cory Quirk to an amateur tryout contract on Saturday as they battled the injury bug. Both players chipped in over the weekend; D'Amour scored the game-winning goal on Sunday against the Phantoms and Quirk assisted on the goal for his first career professional point.

Week 25 Preview:

The River Rats will be busy again this week as they travel to Rochester on Wednesday, March 25th for their fourth and final meeting of the season with the Americans; a 7:05 pm face off at Blue Cross Arena. Albany will then return home for a two-game weekend series against a pair of Atlantic Division teams. Friday, March 27th, the Rats will square off with the first place Hartford Wolf Pack at 7:00 pm, the only time this season that Hartford comes to the TimesUnionCenter. Then on Saturday Albany completes their four-game season series with the Springfield Falcons, also at 7:00 pm.

Week 25 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on 104.5 FM "The Team" ESPN Radio, are streamed free over the Internet at www.albanyriverrats.com and can be watched via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com)

Wednesday, March 25 - 7:05 pm - Blue Cross Arena - Rochester, NY

@ Rochester Americans (25-39-0-7, 57 pts)

Seventh Place, North Division

Rochester is thirteen points behind its closest North Division foe (Lake Erie) and is 22 points out of the final playoff spot, currently occupied by Toronto. A 2-1 victory over Syracuse on Sunday put an end to the Americans' eight-game winless streak (0-6-0-2), which dated back to March 6th. Wednesday will mark the fourth and final game of the season between the River Rats and the Americans. Rochester won the first game 4-0 at home on December 7th, but Albany took the next two games at the TimesUnionCenter with a 3-2 win on December 27th and a 3-0 victory on January 24th. The two shutouts in the series belong to Amerks goaltender Mike Brodeur and River Rats goalie Justin Peters.

Leading Scorer: Michal Repik (RW) - 42 points (18 goals, 24 assists) in 66 GP.

Leading Goaltender: Mike Brodeur (G) - 2.40 GAA, .922 save pct., 17-12-4-2 in 36 GP.

Who's Hot: Janis Sprukts (C) - 8 assists and a +1 rating in his last 6 games played. Randall Gelech (RW) - 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) and a +1 rating in his last 2 games played. Michael Caruso (D) - 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists) and a +1 rating in his last 4 games played.

Friday, March 27 - 7:00 pm - TimesUnionCenter - Albany, NY

vs. Hartford Wolf Pack (40-28-3-3, 86 pts)

First Place, Atlantic Division

Last week the Wolf Pack took over first place in the Atlantic Division from Providence by going 3-1. However, their one loss came Sunday against the second place Bruins. Hartford now sits just one point ahead of Providence in the standings, but the P-Bruins have a game in hand. The Wolf Pack and the Bruins will meet two more times this season, which should spell an exciting finish for the top of the Atlantic. Hartford won its only game so far this season against the River Rats 3-1 in Connecticut on November 1st. Pat Dwyer brought his team within a goal in the final 2:43 of play, but the Wolf Pack iced the game with an empty netter in the final seconds. Friday will be the final meeting of the season between the two clubs.

Leading Scorer:Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau (RW) - 75 points (28 goals, 47 assists) in 71 GP.

Leading Goaltender:Miika Wiikman (G) - 2.73 GAA, .903 save pct., 21-18-3-2 in 42 GP.

Who's Hot: Dale Weise (RW) - 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) and a +3 rating in his last two games played. Brodie Dupont (LW) - 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in his last two games played. Patrick Rissmiller (LW) - 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) and a +1 rating in his last three games played.

Saturday, March 28 - 7:00 pm - TimesUnionCenter - Albany, NY

vs. Springfield Falcons (22-38-7-4, 55 pts)

Seventh Place, Atlantic Division

Springfield is in the basement of the Atlantic Division and is 15 points behind sixth place Lowell. The Falcons have earned points in five of their last six games (3-1-0-2) and goaltender Devan Dubnyk has not lost in regulation in four straight starts. Springfield has faced Albany three times this year and the River Rats hold the 2-1 advantage heading into the final game of the series. The Falcons won the first contest 3-2 on October 24th in Massachusetts and the River Rats took the next two games, first 5-4 on February 13th in Albany and then 5-3 on March 6th in Springfield.

Leading Scorer:Ryan Potulny (C) - 49 points (30 goals, 19 assists) in 61 GP.

Leading Goaltender:Devan Dubnyk (G) - 2.89 GAA, .907 save pct., 18-36-2-3 in 57 GP.

Who's Hot: Ryan Potulny (C) - 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a +1 rating in his last three games played. Ryan Stone (C) - 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) and a +2 rating in his last three games played. Cody Wild (D) - 3 assists in his last three games played.

Week 24 Game Results:

March 16, 2009 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 7 @ Albany 2

March 20, 2009 Albany 1 @ Providence 0 (2-1 in shootout)

March 21, 2009 Albany 4 @ Syracuse 5

March 22, 2009 Philadelphia 0 @ Albany 2

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 24)

Justin Peters - G - #35 3 GP, 2-1-0, 2.12 GAA, 0.945 Sv. %, 103 Saves, 2 Shutouts

Goaltender Justin Peters continued his winning form in Week 24 as he shrugged off a 7-2 loss against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Monday night by pitching back-to-back shutouts against Providence and Philadelphia. Friday night the Blyth, Ontario native dazzled the fans in Providence by making 47 saves in regulation and overtime and then stopping five-of-six shootout attempts for a 1-0 win over the Bruins. Back at the TimesUnionCenter on Sunday Peters continued his dynamic form as he frustrated the Philadelphia Phantoms, making 17 of his 32 saves in the third period, to record his fourth shutout of the year and the fifth clean sheet of his AHL career. He came within inches of scoring a goal in the final minute of Sunday's game, as his shot from the crease slid just wide of Philadelphia's empty net. Peters finished the week with a 2-1-0 record, a 2.12 goals-against average and a 0.945 save percentage; the shootout win was his sixth of the season, which ties him for the league lead.

Rat Bites:

- DEBUTANTES - Defenseman Dominic D'Amour made his Albany debut on Friday night at Providence and then scored his first goal for the River Rats on Sunday, the game-winning goal against Philadelphia. Rookie center Cory Quirk made his professional debut with Albany on Saturday in Syracuse and then tallied his first pro point with an assist on D'Amour's goal on Sunday. The other assist on the goal went to Tomas Pospisil, recording his first point since joining the Rats on March 11th.

- ALMOST A GOAL - Goaltender Justin Peters nearly capped of a strong week with his first career professional goal. The netminder caught a shot with approximately 45 seconds remaining in Sunday's game against Philadelphia, dropped the puck to the ice and quickly fired a shot the length of the rink, but missed wide-left by no more than one foot.

- SHOTS FROM PROVIDENCE - Albany and Providence faced each other just twice in 2008-09, but the Bruins were not shy in shooting the puck at goaltender Justin Peters. In their first meeting of the season on November 8th at the Times Union Center Providence piled up 59 shots on goal and Peters made 55 saves, both AHL season-highs. Friday night Peters again dealt with an onslaught of 47 shots from the Bruins, but this time he stayed firm for the shutout win. In two games this year Providence has 106 shots on goal against Albany, while Peters has come up with 102 saves, a 0.962 save percentage.

- A CAREER FIRST FOR THE CAPTAIN - River Rats captain Pat Dwyer recorded the first hat trick of his professional career on Saturday night at Syracuse. The Great Falls, Montana native had previously recorded seven two-goal games in his four-year AHL career. Bolstered by a red-hot run of scoring ten goals in his last ten games, Dwyer's 23 goals for Albany this season has put him way ahead of his previous career high of 16 goals.

- LAST ONE STANDING - With an injury to assistant captain Mike Angelidis during Friday's game in Providence, rookie center Nick Dodge is now the only player to skate in every game so far this season for the River Rats. Dodge, from Oakville, Ontario, has 36 points (10 goals, 26 assists) in 69 games for Albany this season.

- PLAYOFFS ON LIFE SUPPORT - The River Rats are still mathematically in the playoff race in the East Division, but their margin of error is very slim. The fourth place Binghamton Senators can eliminate Albany from contention with any combination of Rats losses and Senators points earned that add up to seven. If Albany wins all of their remaining 11 games they would finish with 90 points, thus the B-Sens just needs to reach 91 points, or have Albany lose three more games, to effectively remove the Rats from the playoff picture.

- FIRST TO FIFTY - Right wing Jakub Petruzalek had one assist on Saturday in Syracuse to become the first Albany player to reach the 50-point mark on the season. The Litvinov, CzechRepublic native has 17 goals and a team-leading 33 assists in 67 games this season; he missed one game due to injury and one during his first stint in the NHL with Carolina.

River Rats Recent Transactions

March 21 - ADD Cory Quick (C) - Signed to ATO, called up from UMass-Amherst (NCAA).

March 20 - ADD Dominic D'Amour (D) - Signed to PTO, called up from Florida (ECHL).

March 16 - ADD Brandon Sutter (C) - Returned on loan from Carolina (NHL).

March 16 - DELETE Patrick Bordeleau (LW) - Released from PTO.

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Nick Dodge (69)

Goals: Michael Ryan (25)

Assists: Jakub Petruzalek (33)

Points: Jakub Petruzalek (50)

Plus/Minus: Josef Melichar (+7)

Penalty Minutes: Mike Angelidis (142)

Power Play Goals: Michael Ryan (8)

Short Handed Goals: Pat Dwyer (3)

Game-Winning Goals: Pat Dwyer & Michael Ryan (4)

Shots: Jerome Samson (203)

Shooting Percentage: Michael Ryan (20.5%)

Saves: Justin Peters (1,278)

Wins: Justin Peters (17)

GAA: Justin Peters (2.70)

Save Percentage: Justin Peters (0.914)

####

The River Rats kick off their Week 25 action on Wednesday, March 25th as they travel to Rochester for a 7:05 pm face off with the Americans at Blue Cross Arena. Albany returns home on Friday, March 27th to host the Hartford Wolf Pack at 7:00 pm at the TimesUnionCenter.

River Rats flex ticket packages and individual game tickets are on sale now at the River Rats office and the Times Union Center Box Office. For more information please contact the Albany River Rats at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyriverrats.com.

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