River Rats storm past Syracuse 5-2

Published on February 1, 2008 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - Keith Aucoin tied a single game franchise record with five assists as he led the Albany River Rats to a 5-2 win over the Syracuse Crunch Friday night at the Times Union Center.

In a very high tempo first period the Crunch grabbed the early lead when Derek Dorsett emerged from a crown in the slot and snuck a shot passed a screened Michael Leighton at 2:10 for a 1-0 Syracuse advantage. But the River Rats struck back to level the score at 7:44 as Jerome Samson finished off a beautiful passing combination with Keith Aucoin and Brandon Nolan. Samson one-timed Nolan's pass into the net to score his 16th goal of the season in his first game back from injury.

The fast-paced action continued in the second period and Albany took the lead at 5:19 when defenseman Mark Flood blasted a shot from the blue line passed goaltender Karl Goehring for his eighth goal of the season, assisted by Nolan and Aucoin. Late in the period the River Rats cashed in their third-straight goal as Brandon Nolan roofed a shot from the slot over the blocker of Goehring for his 20th goal of the season, assisted by Pat Dwyer and Keith Aucoin, giving Albany a 3-1 lead.

The River Rats onslaught continued in the third period with two Albany power play goals to complete their five-goal run. Defenseman Bryan Rodney's shot deflected into the net for a power play goal at 7:24, his 2nd goal of the season, assisted by Nolan and Aucoin. Then Rodney made a perfect cross-ice pass to set up Jakub Petruzalek's power play goal at 14:09, giving the River Rats a 5-1 lead. The goal was assisted by Keith Aucoin, his fifth assist of the night, becoming just the second Albany player to record five assists in one game and he also tied a River Rats record for five points in one game, the 12th time that feat has been accomplished by an Albany player. Syracuse ended the River Rats goal run at 16:22 when Alexandre Picard scored to make it 5-2, but the damage had already been done as Albany took the win 5-2.

Michael Leighton earned his 16th win of the season by stopping 34-of-36 shots to help Albany improve to 27-20-0-2 on the season. Karl Goehring stopped 27-of-32 shots in goal for Syracuse who fall to 22-25-2-1. The River Rats were 2-for-4 on the power play, while Syracuse finished 0-for-2.

The River Rats will travel to Pennsylvania immediately after the game, as they will face off with the Hershey Bears on Saturday, February 2nd at the Giant Center. Albany's next home game comes on Saturday, February 9th at the Glens Falls Civic Center as they will again battle with 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.

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American Hockey League Stories from February 1, 2008


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