Ramo, Admirals March By River Rats 2-1
December 17, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Norfolk Admirals News Release
NORFOLK, VA - Goaltender Karri Ramo made 26 saves and Radek Smolenak scored the game-winning goal on the power play as the Norfolk Admirals beat the Albany River Rats 2-1 Wednesday night at Scope Arena.
Albany put a lot of pressure on the Admirals defensemen in the opening period and seemed to generate some momentum in the first ten minutes of play. But Norfolk created several good scoring chances as River Rats starting goaltender Justin Peters had to be very sharp to deny a Bracken Kearns breakaway and a few point-blank opportunities.
The Admirals opened the scoring in the second period as Steve Downie scooped up a rebound and tucked in his shot by a stranded Peters at 5:57. It was 2-0 Norfolk five minutes later when Radek Smolenak scored a power play goal, lifting a rebound into the roof of the net at 11:18. But the River Rats struck back late in the period and cut the lead in half at 17:14. Jakub Petruzalek made another perfect crossing pass to Michael Ryan, who one-timed the puck inside the far post before goaltender Karri Ramo could cover the open net. Bolstered by the goal Albany had Norfolk on their heels for the remaining two and a half minutes of the period, but the score remained 2-1 Admirals when the horn ended play in the second frame.
Albany carried their momentum into the third period, putting the home team back on their heels and the Rats had two power plays early on, but Ramo would not back down and held onto the lead. Albany pulled Peters for the final 90 seconds and created several chances in front, but in the end they could not find a way to beat Ramo as the Admirals held on for a 2-1 win.
Goaltender Karri Ramo earned the win by stopping 26-of-27 shots as Norfolk improved to 10-16-1-4 on the season. Justin Peters was very strong in goal for the River Rats, making 24 saves on 26 shots, but took the loss as Albany fell to 10-13-3-2. Albany out-shot the Admirals 27-26, but went 0-for-4 on the power play; Norfolk was 1-for-3 with the man advantage.
Albany's road trip continues as they will again square off with the Norfolk Admirals on Friday, December 19th at 7:15pm at Scope Arena. The River Rats' next home game is scheduled for Saturday, December 27th at 5:00 pm against the Rochester Americans at the Times Union Center.
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