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River Rats Rally Falls Short In Hershey

February 2, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


HERSHEY, PA - The Hershey Bears suppressed a third period rally from the Albany River Rats, to earn a 5-2 victory Saturday night at the Giant Center.

It did not take long for the intensity of this East Division showdown to reach a boiling point. Nine second after the opening face off gloves were flying as Tim Conboy and Grant Potulny engaged in a brief scuffle that resulted in fighting majors for both players. Ten seconds later another fracas broke out that saw Casey Borer and Louis Robitaille get sent to the sin bin for fighting. Hershey benefited from three-straight power plays, but the stingy Albany defense killed off all three penalties. The Bears did grab the lead at 11:22 when Eric Fehr poked in a great pass from Josef Boumedienne, capitalizing on a brief opening in the Albany defense. The River Rats lone power play of the first period came inside the final three minutes and yielded everything but a goal, with Albany keeping the puck in the offensive zone for almost the full two minutes.

The River Rats had two more power plays in the second period, but the advantaged worked against Albany on one instance. Brandon Nolan lost his balance in the offensive zone, causing a freak turnover and sending the Bears off on a two-on-one shorthanded rush. Jay Beagle gained the zone then slid a pass across to Chris Bourque, who one-timed the puck into the net for a short-handed goal at 9:53 and a 2-0 Hershey lead.

Albany mounted another inspiring third period comeback as they erased the two-goal deficit with a pair of power play goals. Jamie Johnson set up Brandon Nolan for a back door goal at 9:04, Nolan's 21st goal of the season as the River Rats were on the board. Johnson then tied the game at two when he tipped a shot from the point past goaltender Daren Machesney at 11:10, assisted by Nolan and Bryan Rodney, for his 11th goal of the year. But Hershey had too much invested in this game to all the River Rats to come in and steal points in the third period. Jason Morgan cranked a quick one-timer from the slot into the roof of the net at 13:59 to put the Bears back in front 3-2. Less than a minute later Hershey's Joe Motzko slapped in a power play goal to regain their two-goal lead. Albany pulled goaltender Michael Leighton for the extra attacker, but conceded an empty net goal with five seconds left in the game.

Daren Machesney stopped 23-of-25 shots for his 14th win of the season, pulling Hershey back up into a three way tie with Albany and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for second place in the East Division. Michael Leighton made 23 saves on 27 shots in goal for Albany, who fell to 27-21-0-2 on the season. The River Rats were 2-for-6 on the power play, while Hershey finished the night 2-for-8 on the man advantage.

Albany's next home game comes on Saturday, February 9th at the Glens Falls Civic Center, as they will again battle with their Thruway rivals, the Syracuse Crunch; a 7:00 pm face off in Glens Falls, NY.

Partial season tickets packages and flex tickets for the 2007-08 River Rats season are on sale now. For more information please contact the Albany River Rats at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyriverrats.com.



American Hockey League Stories from February 2, 2008


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