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River Rats Ring In 2009 With Three-Game Winning Streak

January 5, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


2008-09 Record: 14-17-3-2, 33 points (9-6-3-1 Home, 5-11-0-1 Road), Tied-Sixth Place - East Division

Week 13 Recap:

For just the second time this season the River Rats have won three straight games, this time ushering in the New Year in style. After suffering a very closely fought 1-0 loss at home to Lowell last Tuesday, Albany rattled off three wins in a row. The Rats beat Binghamton on New Year's Eve 2-1 at Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, then returned home and beat a very strong Wilkes-Barre/Scranton club 3-2. On Saturday Michael Ryan recorded his second hat trick of the season, capping it off with the game-winning goal in overtime to beat Bridgeport 3-2. The fact that all three wins came against East Division opponents was not lost of the River Rats, who made up four points in the standings and now trail Binghamton by 11 points for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division. Goaltenders Justin Peters and Daniel Manzato were both outstanding, combining for three wins and a miniscule 1.48 goals-against average. Michael Ryan led the team with five points (3 goals, 2 assists) in four games, while Yannick Tifu continues his strong play since being recalled from Florida (ECHL); Tifu had four assists in Week 13.

Week 14 Preview:

While Week 14 only has two games on the slate, the challenges abound for Albany as they have to face two difficult opponents and some long travel. Albany starts the week with a 7:05 pm face off in Worcester on Friday night, their first meeting with the Sharks this season. After the game the Rats will have to travel approximately 350 miles from Worcester to Hershey for a 7:00 pm showdown with the first place Bears at Giant Center on Saturday. The Sharks are hanging tough in a balanced Atlantic Division and leading scorer Ryan Vesce is tied for 11th in AHL with 36 points. The Bears have been the most dominant team in the AHL so far this season and have not lost to the River Rats in the first four encounters this year. Albany does have right wing Pat Dwyer back in the lineup; the Rats assistant captain returned from his third NHL call up with Carolina on Sunday and is currently third on the team with 17 poitns (7 goals, 10 assists) in 25 games played.

Week 14 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)

Friday, January 9 - 7:05 pm - DCU Center - Worcester, MA

@ Worcester Sharks (19-17-0-1, 39 pts)

Third Place, Atlantic Division

The Sharks just completed a grueling game schedule this past week where they played seven games in the last ten days; they posted a 3-3-0-1 record over that span. Worcester has a much easier two game schedule this week, completing a seven game home stand. The River Rats will get their first look at 43-year old right wing Claude Lemieux, who made his comeback to pro hockey after being retired for four seasons. Lemieux has eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) and 20 penalty minutes in 18 games with Worcester; he is a veteran of 1,197 career NHL games, with 785 points, 1,756 penalty minutes and has played in 233 Stanley Cup Playoff games. Leading Scorer: Ryan Vesce (RW) - 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) in 37 games played. Leading Goaltender: Thomas Greiss (G) - 2.65 GAA, 0.893 save pct., 11-9-1 record in 21 GP. Who's Hot: Ryan Vesce (RW) - 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists) and a +4 rating in last five games played. Lukas Kaspar (LW) - 7 points (3 goals, 4 assists) and a +4 rating in last five games played. Riley Armstrong (RW) - 4 goals in last five games played. Saturday, January 10 - 7:00 pm - Giant Center - Hershey, PA

@ Hershey Bears (26-9-0-1, 53 pts)

First Place, East Division

The Bears are a modest 6-4-0-0 in their last ten games, but have won four of their last five, with the only blemish an uncharacteristic 7-2 throttling in Providence last Friday. Hershey responded by dismantling Hartford 6-2 Saturday and Worcester 7-2 on Sunday. Alex Giroux was returned from his NHL call up with Washington and was named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week by piling up nine points (5 goals, 4 assists) and a +5 rating in just two games played; he tied a 2008-09 AHL individual game high by scoring four times in Worcester on Sunday. Albany has given the Bears a challenge this season, but are winless in four contests (0-2-1-1). Leading Scorer: Keith Aucoin (C) - 48 points (14 goals, 34 assists) in 34 games played. Leading Goaltender: Simeon Varlamov (G) - 2.13 GAA, 0.921 save pct., 14-3-0 record in 17 GP. Who's Hot: Alexandre Giroux (C) - 9 points (5 goals, 4 assists) and a +5 rating in last two games played. Keith Aucoin (C) - 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) and a +7 rating in last five games played. Bryan Helmer (D) - 5 assists and a +6 rating in last five games played. Week 13 Game Results:

12/30/08 Lowell 1 @ Albany 0

12/31/08 Albany 2 @ Binghamton 1

1/2/09 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2 @ Albany 3

1/3/09 Bridgeport 2 @ Albany 3 - OT

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 13)

Michael Ryan - LW - #21 4 GP, 5 Points (3 Goals, 2 Assists), +2 rating, 4 PIMs, 1 GWG

Left wing Michael Ryan once again led the River Rats in scoring during a week's action as he posted five points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a +2 rating. After the team was shutout 1-0 Tuesday night against Lowell, the Boston, Massachusetts native put together a three-game point streak as the River Rats won their last three games of the week. Ryan posted assists at Binghamton Wednesday and Friday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, which moved him into the Rats points lead. Saturday night was a vintage night for Ryan as he scored all three of Albany's goals, including the game-winner in overtime to beat Bridgeport 3-2. With the hat trick performance Ryan now leads the team in points (25) and goals (13) and also has 12 assists in 27 games for Albany this season.

Rat Bites:

- HAT TRICK HERO - Michael Ryan's second hat trick of the season lifted Albany to a 3-2 overtime win over Bridgeport on Saturday, but it also put Ryan into the team's record books. Ryan is just the third player in River Rats history to record multiple hat tricks in one season; Steve Sullivan holds the franchise record with three hat tricks during the 1995-96 season and Pierre Dagenais had two in 2000-01. Ryan is in a six-way tie for second on the Rats All-Time Hat Tricks list, with Sullivan leading that category with five in his Albany career.

- BACK TO WINNING WAYS - Albany equaled their longest winning streak of the season with three straight victories this week, ringing in 2009 with style. The three wins were even more important since they all came against East Division opponents; the River Rats made up four points in the standings and now trail fourth place Binghamton by eleven points for the final playoff spot in the East Division.

- TIFU REINCARNATED - Left wing Yannick Tifu has found his scoring touch since being recalled to the AHL from Florida (ECHL). After playing in Albany's first nine games of 2008-09 and being held without a point, Tifu was loaned to the Everblades where he scored a whopping 28 points (6 goals, 22 assists) in 20 games. The Brossard, Quebec native was recalled to the River Rats on December 27th and broke his AHL scoring drought with an assist against Rochester that night. He has since been red hot, tallying six assists in six games, including four assists in his last three games.

- ANOTHER HAT STAT - Michael Ryan's two hat tricks this year for Albany were separated by 22 days (December 12th at Manchester & January 3rd vs. Bridgeport), which is the second fastest span by one player in Rats history. Steve Sullivan has that record as well, putting up two hat tricks in 12 days (February 16, 1996 vs. St. John's Maple Leafs and February 28, 1996 vs. Carolina Monarchs).

- RODNEY ASSIST MACHINE - River Rats defenseman Bryan Rodney tallied his team-leading 15th assist of the season in dramatic fashion on Saturday night, feeding Michael Ryan for a beautiful back-door goal in overtime to beat Bridgeport 3-2. Rodney, a native of London, Ontario, had three assists in Albany's four games last week and has six helpers in his last seven games. Rodney is currently in a three-way tie for sixth place on the team in points (15) and is tied with Mark Flood for the points lead amongst River Rats defensemen.

- SOUND GOALTENDING - Albany received excellent goaltending from Justin Peters and Daniel Manzato as they won three of their four games in Week 13; they combined for a 1.48 goals-against average and a 0.952 save percentage. Manzato won both starts, stopped 63-of-66 shots (0.955) and had a 1.46 GAA; Peters went 1-1-0 with 55 saves on 58 shots (0.948) and a 1.51 GAA; his only loss came on a 1-0 defeat to Lowell on Tuesday.

River Rats Recent Transactions

January 5 - DELETE Brett Bellemore (D) - Reassigned by Carolina (NHL) to Plymouth (OHL).

January 4 - ADD Pat Dwyer (RW) - Returned on loan from Carolina (NHL).

January 3 - DELETE Pat Dwyer (RW) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL).

January 2 - DELETE Noah Babin (D) - Reassigned by Carolina (NHL) to Florida (ECHL).

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Mike Angelidis, Nicolas Blanchard, Nick Dodge & Jakub Petruzalek, (36)

Goals: Michael Ryan (13)

Assists: Mark Flood & Bryan Rodney (15)

Points: Michael Ryan (25)

Plus/Minus: Steve Ward (+3)

Penalty Minutes: Trevor Gillies (125)

Power Play Goals: Dwight Helminen & Michael Ryan (4)

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

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

Shots: Jerome Samson (93)

Shooting Percentage: Michael Ryan (18.1%)

Saves: Justin Peters (581)

Wins: Daniel Manzato (8)

GAA: Daniel Manzato (2.66)

Save Percentage: Daniel Manzato (0.915)



American Hockey League Stories from January 5, 2009


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