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Rats Earn Fourth-Straight With Win Over Penguins

December 6, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - River Rats leading scorer Jerome Samson broke a 1-1 tie midway through the third period and Albany tacked-on two more goals in the final minutes of action to take-down the Wilkes-Barre-Scranton Penguins 4-1 Sunday evening at the Times Union Center.

Samson batted a clearing-attempt out of mid-air, worked a give-and-go with Stefan Chaputs and released a perfect backhander into the top corner for his eleventh of the year and a three-game goal-scoring streak. Bryan Rodney made it a 3-1 game with 3:47 remaining and Nicolas Blanchard added a dagger with 36 seconds to play to give the River Rats their fourth-straight victory.

Rodney's second of the year came off of an offensive zone faceoff that saw the defenseman sneak a low wrist-shot past Penguins goalie John Curry to give Albany a two-goal cushion. Blanchard sealed the game in the final minute of action, snapping-home a loose puck from the low slot for a two-game goal-scoring streak. Justin Peters turned in his second-consecutive one-goal-against effort with 24 stops in the contest.

Albany took just 36 seconds to score the game's first goal, as River Rats captain Pat Dwyer powered around a defenseman and slid a pass to line-mate Zach Boychuk, who bobbled the puck back towards Dwyer for a short-side tuck-in. The Penguins responded inside the two-minute mark of the first period on the power play, as Eric Tangradi batted a bouncing rebound over Peters' shoulder and just under the crossbar.

Peters earned his ninth win of the season as Albany improved to 14-10-1-2 this year; the River Rats have earned a point in their last six games. Curry stopped 17-of-21 and took the loss as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton fell to 11-10-1-1 this season. The Penguins out-shot Albany 25-21 and went 1-for-5 on the power play; the River Rats were 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.

The River Rats play another three-in-three next weekend, beginning on Friday, December 11th at 7:00 p.m. when they host the East Division leading Hershey Bears at the Times Union Center. Albany then welcomes Providence on Saturday, December 12th for a 7:00 p.m. start before traveling to Hartford on Sunday, December 13th to faceoff with the WolfPack at 4:00 p.m. River Rats 2009-10 season and flex ticket packages are now on sale at the River Rats executive offices at the Times Union Center, by calling (518) 487-2244 or by logging onto www.albanyriverrats.com.



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