Dwyer Double Leads River Rats To 5-3 Win Over Falcons

Published on March 6, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - Pat Dwyer and Ryan Weston each scored two goals as the Albany River Rats beat the Springfield Falcons 5-3 Friday night at MassMutual Center.

Coming into the game on a four-game losing streak, and having won just three of their last 20 games, Springfield got an early lift when their fourth line put them ahead early. Colin McDonald buried a shot from the left circle into the top right corner of the net at 12:19, his seventh goal of the year, to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. But the River Rats struck back with their interim captain Pat Dwyer leading the way. Down a man on the first penalty of the night, Dwyer stole the puck away from Viacheslav Trukhno, raced in on a breakaway and faked out goaltender Devan Dubnyk before lifting a backhand shot into the net for an unassisted, shorthanded goal at 14:30.

If Springfield had the upper hand early in the first period, Albany took charge in the second frame. Dwyer continued to zip around the ice, causing lots of trouble for the Falcons defensemen. At 9:42 Yannick Tifu, in his first game since being injured in the bus crash, took the puck behind the Springfield net and zipped a pass to Dwyer, who drilled a one-timer from the low slot passed Dubnyk for his second goal of the night and 15th of the season. 39 seconds later the Falcons tied the game at 2-2 as Charles Linglet picked up a loose puck behind the net in a scramble and wrapped around to the far side for an open net goal at 10:21. But Albany responded as they were given a power play and just 29 seconds after Springfield equalized, the River Rats pulled ahead as Jakub Petruzalek scored a power play goal at 10:50. The goal came a mere ten seconds into the man-advantage as a four-man passing sequence from Tifu to Bryan Rodney to Harrison Reed set up a far size one-timer for Petruzalek who blasted his shot into the net for his 16th goal of the season. After the flurry of goals, three in 68 seconds, the teams traded chances the rest of the period and Albany held on to the 3-2 lead.

In the third period Rodney was in the middle of another great goal as he skated down the left wing, toe-dragged around the defenseman and tried to lift a backhand over the glove of the Springfield goaltender. Dubnyk got a piece of the shot and the puck fell behind him and sat right near the goal line where rookie right wing Ryan Weston was the fastest to react as he poked his sixth goal of the year at 9:11; Rodney picked up his second assist of the game on the play. Things got interesting late in the game as the Falcons pulled within one goal on a Ryan Potulny power play goal at 14:40, but the River Rats held strong and Weston added an empty net goal, his second of the game at 19:51, to seal a 5-3 road victory for Albany.

Goaltender Justin Peters recorded 28 saves on 31 shots for his 15th win of the season as the River Rats improved to 27-27-3-3 on the season. Falcons goalie Devan Dubnyk stopped 27-of-31 shots and took the loss as Springfield lost their fifth straight and fell to 19-36-7-2. Albany out-shot the Falcons 32-31 in the game and went 1-for-5 on the power play; Springfield was 1-for-3 with the man-advantage. The Rats victory, coupled with Binghamton's 6-5 loss in Bridgeport, brought Albany within 12 points of the final playoff spot in the East Division.

Albany will continue it's brief two-game road trip on Saturday, March 7th as they battle the Worcester Sharks at 7:05 pm at the DCU Center. The River Rats will then return home on Sunday, March 8th at the Glens Falls Civic Center as they host their archrival Syracuse Crunch at 5:00 pm.

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.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from March 6, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central