River Rats Dominate Hershey Again

Published on January 19, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


2008-09 Record: 17-20-3-2, 39 points (10-6-3-1 Home, 7-14-0-1 Road), Tied-Sixth Place - East Division

Week 15 Recap:

Albany began Week 15 right back in Hershey a mere four days after beating the first place Bears 6-4 on Saturday, January 10th. Wednesday night it was even better for the River Rats as they charged out and scored four goals in the first period on their way to a 7-2 rout over Hershey. Michael Ryan led the way his a hat trick performance, his third of the year and Josef Melichar added a Gordie Howe hat trick - in their last two games against the Bears Albany has out-scored the league-leaders 13-6. However, the Rats will not see the Bears again during the 2008-09 regular season, ending the season series with a 2-2-1-1 record.

Friday night Albany carried a 1-0 lead into the third period in Syracuse, but fell short 2-1 and dropped their seventh straight game at the War Memorial at Oncenter. Saturday the Rats came home and extended their East Division winning streak to six games as they beat Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 5-3 in front of a boisterous crowd of 6,003 fans at the Times Union Center. Things looked promising for Albany on Sunday in Philadelphia as Ryan scored his 20th goal of the season in the first period, the River Rats first goal in three games against the Phantoms this year. However, the win was not to be as Philly rallied for three goals in the third period, including an empty net goal, to send the Rats back home without any points.

The River Rats did have some positive news on the injury bug for the first time in weeks as left wing Joe Jensen returned to the lineup on Friday in Syracuse, left wing Brad Herauf was back on Saturday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and defenseman Brett Carson returned on Sunday in Philadelphia. Jensen, who had missed 14 consecutive games due to an upper body injury, was an instant impact in the lineup and haunted his old team by scoring the game-winning goal in the third period of Saturday's game against the Penguins.

Week 16 Preview:

Although forwards Bobby Hughes, Trevor Gillies, Yannick Tifu and Stefan Chaput remain out of the line up for the moment, the River Rats have a full four lines of healthy forwards as they gear up for a three-game home stand this week that will take the team up to the All-Star Break. Wednesday night the second place Bridgeport Sound Tigers come to town clinging to a one-point lead over the third place Penguins. Friday night features the fifth game of the season series between Albany and Binghamton; neither team has won a home game this year. The Rats final game of the week will be against the Rochester Americans on Saturday night, as the Amerks make their second and final trip to the Times Union Center this season. Albany is 6-4-0-0 in their last ten games and has won six of their last seven against East Division opponents.

Week 16 Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on 104.5 FM "The Team" ESPN Radio, are streamed free over the Internet at www.albanyriverrats.com and can be watched via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com)

Wednesday, January 21 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Bridgeport Sound Tigers (25-13-2-2, 54 pts)

Second Place, East Division

Bridgeport is going through their worst run of form this season as they have lost three of their last four games and are 2-4-0-0 in their last six games. The Sound Tigers' week was punctuated with being shutout for the first time all year, blanked 3-0 by John Curry and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Rookie goaltender Nathan Lawson won his first seven AHL starts before losing to Albany 3-2 in overtime on January 3rd. Since then Lawson has two more wins where he allowed just one goal each, but gave up five goals in a loss to Hershey last week. Albany is 2-2-0-0 against Bridgeport this year, but have won their last two meetings with the Sound Tigers.

Leading Scorer: Mike Iggulden (RW) - 45 points (17 goals, 28 assists) in 42 games played.

Leading Goaltender: Nathan Lawson (G) - 1.89 GAA, 0.934 save pct., 9-2-0 record in 12 GP.

Who's Hot: Ben Walter (C) - 5 points (4 goals, 1 assist) and a +1 rating in last five games played. Trevor Smith (LW) - 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in last five games played. Jesse Joensuu (LW) - 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) and a +1 rating in last five games played.

Friday, January 23 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Binghamton Senators (22-13-3-3, 50 pts)

Tied-Fourth Place, East Division

Binghamton is 4-2-0-0 in their last six games and won three of four last week and find themselves in a tie with Philadelphia for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division, although the B-Sens have three games in hand on the Phantoms. With All-Star goaltender Brian Elliott called up to Ottawa, Binghamton received strong play from Jeff Glass and then was bolstered with their parent club sent Martin Gerber down for a conditioning assignment. In Friday's wild 6-4 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, South Glens Falls native Shawn Weller scored the game-winner late in the third period. Albany is 2-1-1-0 against the Senators this year and have won their last two meetings, both in Binghamton, but have yet to beat the B-Sens on home ice this season.

Leading Scorer: Ryan Shannon (RW) - 31 points (10 goals, 21 assists) in 30 games played.

Leading Goaltender: Martin Gerber (G) - 3.57 GAA, 0.908 save pct., 1-1-0 record in 2 GP.

Who's Hot: Denis Hamel (LW) - 8 points (5 goals, 3 assists) and a +4 rating in last five games played. Peter Regin (C) - 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) and a +3 rating in last five games played. Greg Mauldin (LW) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) and a +5 rating in last five games played. Saturday, January 24 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Rochester Americans (15-24-0-3, 33 pts)

Seventh Place, North Division

Rochester is currently enjoying most successful stretch of the season as they try to claw out of the North Division cellar. After losing in Albany on December 27th, the Amerks have gone 6-2-0-1 in their last nine games and took two wins last week on a difficult three-game road trip. All-Star goaltender Mike Brodeur continues to be the story from the Western New York club, his play has given Rochester's season some life and their team an unmistakable identity. Brodeur has 12 wins in 17 appearances and has won six of his last seven starts; he shutout Albany in his Amerks debut, but did not face the River Rats in late December. Rookie defenseman Jason Garrison had four assists in Manchester last Friday and the week before he had another four-point game (1 goal, 3 assists). Leading scorer Janis Sprukts dominated in their last two games, scoring consecutive four-point efforts including a hat trick on Friday in Manchester and had a goal and three assists on Sunday in Providence. The River Rats are 1-1-0-0 against the Amerks this year and will face them two more times in the 2008-09 regular season, including Saturday's game in Albany.

Leading Scorers: Janis Sprukts (C) - 28 points (12 goals, 16 assists) in 36 games played. Leading Goaltender: Mike Brodeur (G) - 2.07 GAA, 0.933 save pct., 12-4-1 record in 17 GP.

Who's Hot: Janis Sprukts (C) - 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) and a +2 rating in last five games played. Jason Garrison (D) - 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists) and a +3 rating in last four games played. Shawn Matthias (C) - 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in last four games played.

Week 15 Game Results:

January 14, 2009 Albany 7 @ Hershey 2

January 16, 2009 Albany 1 @ Syracuse 2

January 17, 2009 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3 @ Albany 5

January 18, 2009 Albany 1 @ Philadelphia 3

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 15)

Michael Ryan - LW - #21 4 GP, 5 Points (5 Goals, 0 Assists), +2 rating, 4 PIMs

All-Star Michael Ryan continued his goal-scoring prowess in Week 15 as he rattled off five goals in four games. The Boston, Massachusetts native tied a River Rats franchise record with his third hat trick of the season on Wednesday in Hershey, leading the way for Albany's 7-2 dismantling of the first place Bears. Ryan has put together quite a streak, scoring 10 goals and posting a +3 rating in his last seven games. His 20 goals this year puts him in a four-way tie for fourth place in the AHL and he has the fourth-best goals-per-game average (0.61) amongst the league's top-20 goal scorers.

Rat Bites:

-MORE RYAN MAGIC - All-Star Michael Ryan became the second player in River Rats history to record three hat tricks in a single season, by scoring three times last Wednesday in Hershey. Ryan joins Steve Sullivan, who had three tricks during the 1995-96 season. He now ranks second in all-time Albany hat tricks (3); Sullivan leads with five in his Rats career.

-NO TIME WASTED - Michael Ryan broke Steve Sullivan's record for fastest back-to-back hat tricks, needing just 11 days to accomplish the feat (Jan. 3rd vs. Bridgeport and Jan. 14th at Hershey); Sullivan's record was 12 days (Feb. 16, 1996 vs. St. John's and Feb. 28th vs. Carolina). Perhaps the more impressive stat is the fact that it took Ryan a mere 33 days to score his trio of three-goal games; Sullivan accomplished the feat in the 1995-96 season, but it took him 84 days to string three together.

-THE DIFFERENCE OF THE THIRD PERIOD - In their four games during Week 15 the River Rats out-scored their opponents 11-3 in the first two periods of play, but were out-scored 7-3 in the third period. In Albany's two losses this week, the Rats carried 1-0 leads into the final frame, but were out-scored 5-0 combined. In 42 games played this season the River Rats have a -13 goal differential in the third period (39 goals for, 52 goals against).

-THE CENTURY MARK - Defenseman Casey Borer played in his 100th career AHL game on Sunday in Philadelphia. The Minneapolis, Minnesota native is in his second pro season and has played in 14 NHL games with the Carolina Hurricanes. Borer has 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) and 80 penalty minutes in his first 100 games in the AHL.

-GOAL SUPPORT FOR PETERS - Albany finally gave number one goaltender Justin Peters some offensive support, scoring seven goals on Wednesday night in a 7-2 blowout win at Hershey. It marked the first game this season where the River Rats scored more than three goals with Peters in the net. In 26 appearances by Peters this year Albany has averaged just 2.09 goals for, but they average 3.72 goals per game when Daniel Manzato is between the pipes.

-FIRST GOALS - Defenseman Josef Melichar scored his first goal of the season and first in a River Rats uniform on Wednesday in Hershey. The goal was Melichar's first regular season tally in two seasons, with his last goal coming for the Pittsburgh Penguins on October 5, 2006. River Rats captain Tim Conboy also scored his first goal of the year, doing so in a unique way. Conboy fired a clearing attempt from behind his own goal line that banked off the side glass and skidded all the way down the ice and into an empty net Saturday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

-FAST GOAL - Pat Dwyer's power play goal on Saturday against the Penguins was Albany's fastest goal to open a game this season. Dwyer scored at 1:52 of the first period, giving the River Rats an early lead on their way to a 5-3 win over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

-PHANTOMS SHUTOUT STREAK ENDED - Entering Sunday's game at Wachovia Spectrum the Philadelphia Phantoms and goaltender Scott Munroe had not allowed a goal to Albany since Kirk MacDonald's overtime winner in Game 6 of the 2008 East Division Semifinals. Munroe's shutout streak was finally broken at 189:29 when Michael Ryan scored the River Rats first goal of the season against the Phantoms at 9:29 of the first period. Philadelphia's third period comeback gave them a 3-1 win, their fourth-straight victory over Albany, and snapped the Rats six-game winning streak over East Division opponents.

River Rats Recent Transactions

January 18 - DELETE Colin Nicholson (C) - Released from PTO, returned to Florida (ECHL).

January 13 - ADD Colin Nicholson (C) - Signed PTO, called up from Florida (ECHL).

January 13 - DELETE Danick Bouchard (RW) - Released from PTO, returned to Florida (ECHL).

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Mike Angelidis, Nicolas Blanchard, Nick Dodge & Jakub Petruzalek, (42)

Goals: Michael Ryan (20)

Assists: Bryan Rodney (19)

Points: Michael Ryan (32)

Plus/Minus: Josef Melichar (+5)

Penalty Minutes: Trevor Gillies (125)

Power Play Goals: Michael Ryan (5)

Short Handed Goals: Pat Dwyer, Mark Flood & Dwight Helminen (1)

Game-Winning Goals: Pat Dwyer, Dwight Helminen, Michael Ryan, & Jerome Samson (2)

Shots: Jerome Samson (112)

Shooting Percentage: Michael Ryan (21.3%)

Saves: Justin Peters (699)

Wins: Daniel Manzato (10)

GAA: Justin Peters (2.60)

Save Percentage: Justin Peters (0.916)

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American Hockey League Stories from January 19, 2009


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