Rats hold off Amerks

Published on January 29, 2010 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


Rochester, NY- Rookie Drayson Bowman broke a 2-2 tie midway through the third period and Brett Bellemore added an empty-net goal for the eventual game-winner, as the Albany River Rats defeated Rochester Americans 4-3 Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.

Mike Angelidis scored a goal and added an assist, and Nick Dodge chipped in with two assists to give Albany its third straight victory. The River Rats have earned points in their last sixth games (5-0-1-0) and have won their last four on the road.

Bowman gave Albany its third lead of the night on the power play at 9:03 of the third period, batting his own rebound out of mid-air for a 3-2 advantage. River Rats goaltender Justin Peters stopped 26 shots in the contest and made his two biggest saves of the night in the final minutes of action, first stacking his pads to deny Amerks leading goal scorer Jamie Johnson on a back-door one-timer, and later robbing Rory Fitzpatrick from point-blank range with a big glove save.

Rochester pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker in the final minute of action, and Bellemore fired a clearing attempt from behind his own goal line, off of the glass and into the vacated Americans goal for his first marker of the season at 19:26. The long tally proved crucial, as Rochester defenseman Victor Oreskovich beat Peters with 17 seconds remaining for the 4-3 final.

Albany twice turned turnovers into points in the opening two periods, but each time saw Rochester even the score minutes later.

Stefan Chaput set-up Albany's first strike at 9:26 of the first period, stripping defenseman Clay Wilson in the neutral zone and blasting a shot, which rebounded to Angelidis for the put-away. Daniel Steiner responded for the Amerks just 1:13 later, getting just enough his shot for it to squeeze through Peters and dribble over the goal line.

Albany converted on another mid-ice turnover at 4:16 of the second period, when Dodge forced the puck off of a defenseman and one-handed a pass to Zach Boychuk, who flew in on a breakaway and dished a behind-the-back pass to Chris Terry for the finish. Rochester again knotted the game quickly, as Johnson connected on the power play at 6:40.

Peters stopped 27-of-30 shots faced to earn the win, as Albany improved to 25-16-3-2 this season. Americans goalie Alexander Salak stopped 23-of-26 shots faced and took the loss, as Rochester fell to 27-17-2-0 this year. The Amerks out-shot the River Rats 30-27 in the contest and both team's went 1-for-5 on the power play.

Albany concludes its four-game road trip on Saturday in Hershey with a 7:00 p.m. faceoff against the Bears. River Rats 2009-10 pro-rated season and flexible 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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American Hockey League Stories from January 29, 2010


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