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Albany Sinks Sharks 5-4 In Glens Falls

October 17, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - Jakub Petruzalek scored two goals and Pat Dwyer notched the game winner late in the third as the Albany River Rats recorded their first win of the 2008-09 season by beating the Worcester Sharks in a 5-4 thriller Friday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Worcester opened the scoring at 4:46 into the first period when P.J. Fenton's pass across the goalmouth bounced off the skate of Albany goaltender Daniel Manzato and into the net. But it took a mere twenty six seconds for the Rats to respond. Jakub Petruzalek ripped a shot by the glove of the Sharks goalie Thomas Greiss to tie the game. Albany doubled its lead at 10:22 on a short-handed goal by Dwight Helminen, his second goal of the season. At the 15:01 mark it was the Sharks who would respond with an equalizer, as Matt Jones chipped a rebound over Manzato's outstretched leg pad.

Worcester had a glorious chance to take the lead early in the second period as they received a two-man power play for 1:57. The Sharks surrounded the Albany goal and unleashed shot after shot, but Manzato and the River Rats defenders stood tall and killed off the penalties. Worcester continued to out-shoot the Rats, but with just over two minutes remaining in the frame Albany grabbed the lead. Defenseman Casey Borer jumped into the offense, drove the net and dragged the puck around Greiss for his first goal of the season and a 3-2 River Rats lead at 17:53.

Worcester defenseman Mat Kinch tied the game at 3-3 at 7:35 into the third period on a slapshot from the left point blazed by a screened Manzato and into the top right corner of the net. The Sharks then took their first lead of the night when Jamie McGinn took a touch pass from Steven Zalewski and beat Manzato to the near post on his blocker side. Just as the crowd began to deflate at the Glens Falls Civic Center, Petruzalek outraced tied the game on a fantastic individual effort. The River Rats forward caused a turnover and then out-skated a defender to a puck that was trickling towards the net before chipping it up and over Greiss for his second goal of the game at 14:26. Less than a minute later Nick Dodge nearly scored his first professional goal as he held off a defender and drove wide on the goaltender. Dodge's shot rang off the post, but the puck rebounded right onto the stick of Pat Dwyer who slammed it into the open net for a 5-4 lead at 15:19. Worcester pulled their goalie to turn a four-on-three power play into a five-on-three for the final 33 seconds of the game, but the Sharks ran out of time and the game would end when a stick-less Mike Angelidis, also missing one glove, blocked a shot and smothered it as the buzzer sounded.

In his first start of the season Albany net-minder Daniel Manzato stopped 34-of-38 shots to record his first career AHL victory. The River Rats record improved to 1-1-0-0 and Head Coach/General Manager Jeff Daniels celebrated his first career head-coaching win. Worcester goaltender Thomas Greiss made 21 saves on 26 shots, taking the loss as the Sharks fell to 0-2-0-0 on the young season. Worcester out-shot Albany 38-26 in the game and finished 0-for-9 on the power play, while the River Rats went 0-for-7 with the man advantage.

The River Rats will hit the highway on Saturday for their first road game of the season, squaring off with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 7:05 pm at the Arena at Harbor Yard. Albany's next home game comes on Wednesday, October 22nd when they host the Binghamton Senators at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center.

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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