Pirates Top River Rats In Overtime 3-2

March 12, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - Geoff Platt scored two goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Portland Pirates fought back the Albany River Rats 3-2 Wednesday night at the Times Union Center.

Having split their first two games, it was no surprise that there was not much between the two teams in the first period. In a defensive opening twenty minutes, each team had one power play, but neither could manage much in the way of scoring chances.

Portland opened the scoring early in the second period when Geoff Platt found space down the right wing and ripped a shot into the top corner over the glove of goaltender Michael Leighton at 1:49, assisted by Stephen Dixon and Michal Birner. But the River Rats leveled the score just after the midway point as Pat Dwyer raced down the left wing, fighting past a Portland defender to spark a two-on-one rush. Dwyer fired a pass to the right wing for defenseman Chris Murray, who collected the puck and buried his shot past goaltender Jean-Sebastien at 11:54 for his first career AHL goal; Dwyer and Nicolas Blanchard assisted on the goal, which tied the game 1-1. But Portland retook the lead with a power play goal at 18:07 of the period. Defenseman Jay Leach's shot from the point deflected up over Leighton's shoulder to put the Pirates ahead 2-1 after 40 minutes.

Albany struck back to tie the game at 7:13 of the third period when Jeff Hamilton skated from behind the net and, from a very sharp angle, snapped the puck through Aubin. The goal was Hamilton's third of the season for the River Rats and was assisted by Joe Jensen and Casey Borer. Albany had a chance to take the lead halfway through the period on a power play when Brett Carson set up Jamie Johnson on the far post. But with a wide-open net Johnson's shot hit off the left post and rolled along the goal, tantalizingly close to going in.

The game was up for grabs in overtime, but with Albany working the offensive zone, the River Rats turned over the puck right at the blue line, sending Portland off on a two-on-zero rush. Stephen Dixon zipped down the right wing, and then slid the puck over the Geoff Platt who fired the puck past a stranded Leighton for the overtime-winner at 2:01.

Jean-Sebastien Aubin recorded the victory in goal for Portland, stopping 19-of-21 shots as the Pirates improved to 40-20-2-4 on the year. Michael Leighton turned another solid performance, making 34 saves on 37 shots in the loss for Albany, who gained a point in the overtime loss; the River Rats record is now at 37-25-2-3 on the season. Albany finished the game 0-for-2 on the power play, while the Pirates were 1-for-4 with the man-advantage.

The River Rats will continue their week on Friday night with a road game at the Binghamton Senators at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. Albany will host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Saturday night at the Times Union Center for a 7:00 pm face off.



American Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2008


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