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Albany Closes Out 2008-09 Season With Three Games

April 6, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


After being statistically eliminated from the playoffs on Saturday against Springfield, Albany headed into one of their busiest weeks of the season with five games in six days. The River Rats were not up to the challenge, losing all five in regulation to extend their losing streak to eight games. Their first contest of the week came in a rare Tuesday night home start against Bridgeport, where a strange bounce in the opening minute of the contest led to a quick goal for the Sound Tigers, setting the tempo for the remainder of the game. Sean Bentivoglio added two more goals to his fluky tally in the first to record the hat trick and lead his team to a 5-3 victory. The next day Albany headed to Philadelphia to play their final game at the Spectrum before the building is demolished this summer. The River Rats got off to a good start and led 3-1 after the first period on goals from Brad Herauf, Jerome Samson and Harrison Reed. However, the Phantoms surged to score the next five goals, including three from David Laliberte, to take the game 6-3. On Friday the team headed north to host the Worcester Sharks in Glens Falls, where Steven Zalewski and Riley Armstrong tallied three points a piece to hand Albany its first loss of the season in the North Country. The River Rats hit the road for the weekend, losing 5-2 in Binghamton on Saturday and 6-3 in Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon. River Rats rookie Cory Quirk scored three goals over the weekend, including two on Sunday for his first career two-goal performance.

Week 27 Preview:

The 27th and final week of the 2008-09 AHL regular season is here and the River Rats have three games left on the schedule before their 16th season of operations comes to a close. Even though Albany has been eliminated from the playoffs, they can still have a major impact on who gets into the East Division post-season. Wednesday night the Rats will host the Philadelphia Phantoms at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center and then, after a Friday night trip to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Albany closes out the year on Saturday night at home against the Binghamton Senators. Philadelphia leads Binghamton by one point for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division, so the River Rats could cause at lot of problems to both teams in their games this week.

The injury bug continues to hit the River Rats, even as the season comes to a close. Albany lost feisty left wing Brad Herauf for the remainder of the season after he picked up an injury last Friday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Defenseman Noah Babin, a healthy scratch during Friday's game vs. Worcester, was back in the lineup over the weekend playing as a fourth line forward as Albany's roster was again left without any healthy reserves.

Week 27 Schedule:

(BROADCASTING NOTE - The River Rats games on Wednesday, April 8th vs. Philadelphia and Saturday, April 11th vs. Binghamton at the Times Center will not be aired on 104.5 FM (WTMM) due to programming conflicts. Those games can be heard for free over the Internet at www.albanyriverrats.com and can be watched via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com. Albany's game on Friday, April 9th at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will be broadcast LIVE on 104.5 FM "The Team" ESPN Radio, over the internet and on AHL LIVE.)

Wednesday, April 8 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Philadelphia Phantoms (42-29-2-4, 90 pts)

Fourth Place, East Division

Philadelphia has rattled off six-straight victories, five of them by two goals or more, to overtake Binghamton in the standings by one point for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division. Both the Senators and the Phantoms have three games remaining in the season, each with one coming against Albany. Wednesday will be the eighth and final meeting this year between the River Rats and Philadelphia; Albany trails 5-2 in the season series. The mid-week face off comes just one week after Albany played its last game ever at the Spectrum, a 6-3 loss. Leading Scorer: Jared Ross (C) - 66 points (20 goals, 37 assists) in 62 GP. Leading Goaltender: Scott Munroe (G) - 2.46 GAA, .927 save pct., 30-19-3-4 in 54 GP. Who's Hot: Jonathan Matsumoto (C) - 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) and a +8 rating in his last six games played. David Laliberte (RW) - 7 points (6 goals, 1 assist) and a +9 rating in his last four games played. Boyd Kane (LW) - 9 points (2 goals, 7 assists) and a +4 rating in his last six games played. Friday, April 10 - 7:05 pm - Wachovia Arena - Wilkes-Barre, PA

vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (47-24-2-3, 99 pts)

Third Place, East Division

The Penguins have locked up a playoff spot in the East, but still have a chance to improve in the standings during the final week of the regular season. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is three points behind second-place Bridgeport with two games in hand and five points behind first-place Hershey with one game in hand. The Penguins have two games this week against last-place Norfolk before Friday's match up with the River Rats, which should make for an interesting season finale for the Penguins on Saturday at Hershey. The Bears won their last match up with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-3 in a shootout on April 4th. Friday's game will be the final contest of the season between Albany and the Penguins. The two clubs split their first four games, but Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have taken the last three contests to lead the series 5-2. Leading Scorer: Janne Pesonen (LW) - 76 points (29 goals, 47 assists) in 66 GP. Leading Goaltender: John Curry (G) - 2.36 GAA, .917 save pct., 32-14-1-4 in 48 GP. Who's Hot: Chris Minard (LW) - 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) in his last five games played. Jeff Taffe (C) - 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) in his last five games played. Mark Letestu (C) - Has scored a goal in each of his last two games. Saturday, April 11 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Binghamton Senators (40-28-5-4, 89 pts)

Fifth Place, East Division

The Senators have gone 2-3-1-0 in their last six games and have fallen out of a playoff position and into fifth place in the East. They trail fourth-place Philadelphia by just one point and face Syracuse, Norfolk and Albany to close their regular season. Before facing the River Rats in their season finale on Saturday, the B-Sens will have to root for Albany to beat the Phantoms on Wednesday night. The season finale will mark the eighth time this season that Binghamton and the River Rats face off. The Senators won two of the first three meetings this year, but Albany took three straight heading into last week's match up on April 4th when the Senators won 5-2 to make the season series 4-3 in favor of the River Rats. Leading Scorer: Ilya Zubov (LW) - 52 points (14 goals, 52 assists) in 60 GP. Leading Goaltender: Jeff Glass (G) - 3.14 GAA, .905 save pct., 16-18-3-0 in 38 GP. Who's Hot: Greg Mauldin (LW) - 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) in his last two games played. Denis Hamel (LW) - 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in his last four games played. Mike Bomersback (RW) - has scored a goal in each of his last two games played. Week 26 Game Results:

March 31, 2009 Bridgeport 5 @ Albany 3

April 1, 2009 Albany 3 @ Philadelphia 6

April 3, 2009 Worcester 3 @ Albany 2

April 4, 2009 Albany 2 @ Binghamton 5

April 5, 2009 Albany 3 @ Bridgeport 6

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 26)

Jerome Samson - RW - #17 5 GP, 8 Points, 2 Goals, 6 Assists, -3 rating, 21 PIMs

Right wing Jerome Samson had a fantastic week for the River Rats as he put together a five-game point streak and registered eight points (2 goals, 6 assists). The Greenfield Park, Quebec native began the week with his fifth multi-assist game of the season, logging two helpers against Bridgeport. After scoring a goal in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Samson scored his 22nd goal of the season on Friday against Worcester, setting a new career-high for goals. Saturday in Binghamton he had one assist for his 50th point of the year and then he backed it up with two more assists on Sunday in Bridgeport to move into the Albany team-lead in points. Samson leads the River Rats in points (52), he is second in assists (30) and ranks third on the team in goals (22) in 67 games played.

Rat Bites:

- QUICK STRIKEOUT - The River Rats were playing from behind almost from the opening face off Tuesday night as they hosted the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. A fluke ricochet off the right corner boards sent the puck right to an unmarked Sean Bentivoglio, who had a simple tap-in goal just 25 seconds into the game. It was the fastest goal allowed by Albany to open a game or a period this season, surpassing the goal scored by Hartford's David Urquhart a mere 28 seconds into the game on November 1, 2008.

- A FIRST TIMES TWO - Rookie forward Cory Quirk and rookie defenseman Jamie McBain each scored their first career professional goals on Tuesday night against Bridgeport. Quirk scored on a hard-work rebound at 7:40 of the second period and McBain blasted home a slap shot from the blue line at 6:43 of the third period, becoming the fourth and fifth Albany rookies to register their first pro goal this season.

- BICENTENNIAL - Albany scored its 200th goal of the season on Tuesday against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Their 200th of the year came in the third period on Jamie McBain's first career professional goal.

- HONORABLE MENTION - Although defenseman Brett Carson led the River Rats with 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in the month of March, captain Pat Dwyer was not far behind. Dwyer scored 10 goals in 14 games played in the month, including two game-winning goals and his first career professional hat trick on March 21st at Syracuse.

- TYING A RECORD - The River Rats allowed five power play goals in Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon, tying a franchise record for most power play goals against in a single game. The only other game in team history where the opposition scored five power play goals was on December 27, 1996 when the Syracuse Crunch accomplished that feat in a 7-2 win over Albany.

- HUNDREDS OF HELPERS - Left wing Yannick Tifu recorded his 200th career pro assist on Sunday in Bridgeport. The Brossard, Quebec native has 277 points (77 goals, 200 assists) in 275 career pro games and has 21 assists in 58 AHL games.

- ONE LEADS TO MANY - Rookie center Cory Quirk had a monster week for Albany, scoring four goals and adding one assist in four games. After scoring his first career pro goal on Tuesday night, he then potted his second goal Saturday in Binghamton and finished off the week with two more goals Sunday at Bridgeport.

- SECOND PERIOD WOES - Albany's worst period this season, statistically, has been the second period. Through 77 regular season games the River Rats have been out-scored 86-55 in the middle frame (a -31 goal differential), while being out-shot 839-745 (-94).

River Rats Recent Transactions

No Recent Transactions

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Nick Dodge (77)

Goals: Michael Ryan (25)

Assists: Jakub Petruzalek (33)

Points: Jerome Samson (52)

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 (240)

Shooting Percentage: Cory Quirk (30.8%)

Saves: Justin Peters (1,431)

Wins: Justin Peters (17)

GAA: Justin Peters (2.87)

Save Percentage: Justin Peters (0.908)

####

Albany will complete their 2008-09 regular season schedule with three games this week beginning on Wednesday, April 8th as they host the Philadelphia Phantoms at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center. The River Rats season finale is on Saturday, April 11th, a 7:00 pm home game against the Binghamton Senators.

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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