Crunch Mystify River Rats 3-1

Published on February 9, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


GLENS FALLS, NY - The Albany River Rats and the Syracuse Crunch Saturday night in front of 5,021 fans at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

Returning for their second of three games in Glens Falls this season, the River Rats were looking to rebound from their last trip to the Civic Center. But it was Syracuse that grabbed the momentum early on and maintained their intensity throughout the first period. The Crunch struck first with a power play goal at 12:59 as Derek Dorsett tipped in an Aaron Rome shot for his fifth goal of the season and a 1-0 lead. Syracuse doubled their tally at 15:38 on an Adam Pineault goal, his 14th of the season. Albany failed to clear out the traffic in front of goaltender Michael Leighton and Pineault was able to poke a loose puck just enough to trickle over the goal line. Derek MacKenzie almost added a third Crunch goal in the first period as he raced in on a short-handed breakaway, but the clock expired just before MacKenzie released his wrist shot.

Albany's struggle to create scoring chances continued in the second period, but they got on the board as defenseman Bryan Rodney took a drop pass from Brandon Nolan in the slot and fired his shot past goaltender Dan LaCosta at 15:57, assisted by Nolan and Jerome Samson.

The River Rats had chances to level the score in the third period, but Albany failed to cash in on their power play opportunities. Albany pulled Leighton with 90 seconds remaining for a six-on-four power play, but Syracuse would ice the game with an empty net goal from Clay Wilson at 19:04 to finish off the River Rats 3-1.

Dan LaCosta made 20 saves on 21 shots to record his second win of the season, helping Syracuse improve to 24-25-2-2. Michael Leighton turned in another solid performance in goal for Albany, stopping 27-of-29 shots, but was tagged with the loss as the River Rats dropped to 27-22-0-2 on the year. Albany's power play struggles returned as they went 0-for-7 on the man-advantage; Syracuse was 1-for-5 on their power plays.

The River Rats will return to the Times Union Center as they undergo a three-game home stand next week. Albany will begin the week by hosting the Binghamton Senators on Wednesday, February 13th at 7:00 pm.

Partial season tickets packages and flex tickets for the 2007-08 River Rats season are on sale now. For more information please contact the Albany River Rats at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyriverrats.com.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 9, 2008


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