Power Play Haunts River Rats in Wilkes-Barre

Published on December 22, 2007 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


WILKES-BARRE, PA - The Albany River Rats were held scoreless on four power play opportunities as the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins edge out the visiting Rats 4-3 Saturday night at Wachovia Arena.

Seven days after the Penguins handed Albany their worst loss of the season to date in Glens Falls, the two teams with a growing dislike for one another squared off for a much-anticipated rematch. Albany rookie forward Joel Rechlicz and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Paul Bissonnette dropped the gloves 2:43 into the game, but otherwise the opening period had few extracurricular activities. The Penguins opened the scoring at 5:32 as Tim Wallace's initial shot rebounded off goaltender Michael Leighton into the high slot for Alex Goligoski, who one-timed the loose puck into the net for a 1-0 lead. Albany tied the game ten minutes later, capitalizing on a Wilkes-Barre turnover. After a Penguins' clearing attempt hit the back of a Wilkes-Barre forward at the blue line, ricocheted to the path of Jakub Petruzalek who poked the puck forward to Yannick Tifu. Tifu was all alone in the high slot, giving him time to fake out Penguins goaltender David Brown and slid the puck into the open net at 15:51, his first career AHL goal, tying the game at 1-1.

Ryan Stone regained the Penguins lead at 3:55 of the first period when he picked up a loose puck on top of the crease and slotted his shot past a fallen Leighton for a 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later Jamie Johnson tied the score at two as he tucked a backhand shot between Brown and the near post at 4:26, his 8th goal of the season, assisted by Petruzalek and Tifu. Petruzalek then put Albany in the lead for the first time in the game, scoring his first goal of the season at 6:10, assisted by Tifu. But Wilkes-Barre equalized the game with a power play goal from Goligoski, his second goal of the game, tipping a Mark Letestu one-timer into net, tying the game at three.

In the third period Kurtis McLean collected another loose puck in the Albany crease at 13:46, banging it home for a 4-3 lead, the eventual game-winner. The River Rats had several opportunities to level the score, but Brown was unrelenting in between the pipes, leading the Penguins to victory.

David Brown made 24 saves on 27 shots to record the win and the Penguins went 1-for-3 on the power play to improve to 16-12-0-1 on the season; just three points behind Albany in the East Division standings. Michael Leighton took the loss in goal for the River Rats, stopping 19-of-23 shots, while Albany was 0-for-4 on the power play as they fell to 17-14-0-2 on the year.

The River Rats will return to Albany to enjoy a couple days off during the Christmas holiday before returning to action next Wednesday in one of their busiest weeks of the season. Wednesday, December 26th the River Rats head to Binghamton for a division game with the Senators at 7:00 pm at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena. Albany will return home on Thursday, December 27th to square off with the Providence Bruins, the team with the AHL's best record, for a 7:00 pm face off at the Times Union Center.

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.

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



American Hockey League Stories from December 22, 2007


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