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Johnson's Two Goals Lead River Rats To Victory

October 24, 2007 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - Jamie Johnson scored twice in the first period as the Albany River Rats edged the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 Wednesday night at the Times Union Center.

For the third straight game Albany came out flying off the opening face off. Jamie Johnson redirected a Casey Borer slap shot from the blue line past Syracuse goaltender Tomas Popperle at 2:46 for a 1-0 lead. Two and a half minutes later Brandon Nolan one-timed a centering feed from Bobby Hughes to double the River Rats lead at 5:17, assisted by Hughes and Jerome Samson. Johnson scored his second goal of the period, his third of the season, at 11:40, unleashing a vicious shot from the slot for a power play goal, assisted by Samson and Jakub Petruzalek. After Albany's third goal, the Crunch pulled Popperle from the net and replaced him with backup Adam Munro.

But Syracuse rebounded three minutes later when Derek MacKenzie was tripped up by two Albany defensemen and referee Nygel Pelletier awarded the Crunch a penalty shot. MacKenzie converted the penalty shot, snapping a quick wrist shot through the legs of River Rats starter Michael Leighton, putting Syracuse on the board at 14:45.

In the second period MacKenzie set up Joakim Lindstrom at the right face off circle and Lindstrom's shot hit Leighton, but managed to fight through the pads for a second Crunch goal. The strike came at 2:37, assisted by MacKenzie and Bruno St. Jacques. Leighton clamped down after that goal, doing everything he could to keep Albany in front.

Syracuse mounted more pressure in the third period, out-shooting Albany 12-4 in the final 20 minutes, but Leighton turned aside everything thrown his way. At the other end of the ice, Munro did everything his team could ask, shutting down the River Rats offense. In the end Leighton prevailed, leading Albany to a narrow 3-2 win.

Leighton was clearly the difference in the final two periods, earning his second victory of the season by stopping 30-of-32 shots in goal for the River Rats. Tomas Popperle took the loss for Syracuse, allowing 3 goals on 9 shots in 11:40 of the first period; Adam Munro blocked all 14 shots he faced over the last 47:53 of play. Albany finished 1-for-8 on the power play, while the Crunch were 0-for-6 with the man-advantage.

Next up for the River Rats is a two-game road trip this weekend. Friday, October 26th Albany will travel to Pennsylvania for their first meeting of the season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Sunday the River Rats are in Hershey for a 5:00 pm game against the Bears.

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.



American Hockey League Stories from October 24, 2007


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