Pirates Sack River Rats In Lewiston 6-3

Published on November 14, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


LEWISTON, ME - Rookie forward Nathan Gerbe scored two goals and added an assist as the Portland Pirates beat the Albany River Rats 6-3 Friday night at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee.

Albany opened the scoring early in first period as Dan LaCouture tipped a shot from Jonathan Paiement into the net for a power play goal at 3:30; Paiement and Brett Carson assisted on the goal. The River Rats held a 1-0 lead until the midway point of the period, but then the Pirates scored two goals in the span of 54 seconds to leap frog into the lead. Mark Zagrapan tied the game with rebound goal at 9:38 and then Derek Whitmore gave Portland a 2-1 lead with a goal at 10:32 as his wrist shot beat Albany goaltender Daniel Manzato over his catching glove. But the River Rats countered back to tie the game 2-2 just 80 seconds are the Pirates nosed in front. Nicolas Blanchard scored his third goal of the season at 11:51 to tie the game and take some momentum away from Portland.

The Rats started the second period with a minute of power play time carrying over from the first, but could not capitalize on their chance. Albany received yet another advantage a minute later, but instead of helping the Rats grab the lead, Pirates right wing Mark Mancari sparked his team with an unassisted shorthanded goal at 2:27. That set off a flurry of goals as Portland scored three times in a span of 2:22. Mathieu Darche made it 4-2 with a goal at 3:39, which led head coach Jeff Daniels to replace Manzato with back up Justin Peters in an attempt to change the momentum. But the Pirates greeted Peters with a goal on the first shot he faced as rookie Nathan Gerbe scored his 11th goal of the season at 4:49 to give the Pirates a 5-2 lead.

To their credit Albany did not fold up shop in the third period. The River Rats out-shot Portland 10-4 in the final frame and with 2:30 left in the game Jerome Samson scored his third goal of the season, assisted by LaCouture and Stefan Chaput. It would not be enough and with time running out Gerbe added an empty net goal at 19:57, his second goal of the night, capping off a 6-3 win.

Portland goaltender Jhonas Enroth made 27 saves on 30 shots help the Pirates improve to 10-1-1-0 on the season. Albany starter Daniel Manzato stopped 16-of-20 shots in 23:39 of action and took the loss as the River Rats fell to 2-8-2-1. Backup Justin Peters made 9 saves on 10 shots in the final 35:16 of play. Albany finished the game 1-for-6 on the power play, while Portland was 0-for-6, but out-shot the Rats 31-30.

Albany will continue their three-game road trip on Saturday, November 15th at Tsongas Arena in Massachusetts for a 7:00 pm face off with the Lowell Devils, their former affiliate. The River Rats next home game comes on Friday, November 21st as they again host the Syracuse Crunch at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center.

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American Hockey League Stories from November 14, 2008


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