Rats Topple Amerks 4-3

March 12, 2010 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ROCHESTER, NY- Oskar Osala tied the game with a pair of second period goals and Bryan Rodney scored the game-winner in the third to lift the Albany River Rats to a 4-3 victory over the Rochester Americans on Friday night at Blue Cross Arena.

Osala returned from his first NHL recall of the season just on time for the opening faceoff and was rewarded with his first two goals as a River Rat. Rodney also enjoyed a two point night for Albany, with a goal and an assist, and rookie defenseman Jamie McBain chipped in a pair of assists as the River Rats earned a point in their fourth straight game (2-0-0-2).

Osala's first goal of the night was a laser to the top right corner, which knotted the game at 2-2 just 1:46 into the second period. The Americans took their third lead of the game at 13:31 on Scott Hotham's first career AHL tally, but Osala struck again just 37 seconds later, this time picking the top left corner on Rochester goaltender Tyler Plante for his 17th goal of the season.

Rodney gave Albany its first lead of the game with a top-shelf one-time blast from the point at 7:04 of the third period and goaltender Mike Morrison stopped all 11 shots faced in that final frame to hold on for the win.

Chris Taylor drew first blood for the Amerks with a power play strike at 5:39 of the opening period, hammering Evgeny Dadonov's one-time feed past River Rats goaltender Justin Pogge. Pogge suffered an injury midway through that first frame and veteran backstop Mike Morrison took over in goal for the River Rats. Drayson Bowman put Albany on the board with a rocket from the top of the right wing faceoff circle at 15:36 on the power play, but Rochester reclaimed the lead with its second power play tally of the night at 17:28 from Jordan Henry.

Morrison stopped 24-of-26 shots faced in 49:46 of relief work, as Albany improved to 35-24-3-5 this season. Pogge stopped 6-of-7 shots in the opening 10:14 of action. Plante allowed four goals on 34 shots and took the loss, as the Americans fell to 37-27-2-0 this year. The River Rats out-shot Rochester 34-33 in the contest and went 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Amerks were 1-for-3 on the man-advantage.

The River Rats return home to the Times Union Center on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Fans in attendance can take advantage of an exclusive offer for $10 tickets to any of the Albany's remaining five home games this season. River Rats 2010 Calder Cup playoff 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.



American Hockey League Stories from March 12, 2010


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