River Rats Week 15

Published on January 12, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


Albany Earns Big Road Victory Over AHL's Top Team River Rats Back In Hershey To Start Busy Week 2008-09 Record: 15-18-3-2, 35 points (9-6-3-1 Home, 6-12-0-1 Road), Seventh Place - East Division

Week 14 Recap: The injury bug continued to plague the River Rats as they entered Week 14 with two more forwards out of the lineup: Brad Herauf picked up an injury during Albany's overtime win over Bridgeport on January 3rd and Yannick Tifu suffered a lower body injury in practice, leaving the Rats short of forwards again. Albany signed right wing Danick Bouchard to a PTO, calling him up from the Florida Everblades to give the team 11 healthy forwards, but with Trevor Gillies, Joe Jensen, Stefan Chaput and Bobby Hughes all on the shelf, Albany again had to play without a full four lines up front. One piece of good news came when rookie defenseman Benn Olson was cleared for full contact in practice, bringing him closer to rejoining the lineup after missing 14 games due to injury.

The River Rats carried a three-game winning streak into their Friday road trip to Massachusetts where they faced the Worcester Sharks for the first time since early October. The Sharks grabbed the lead late in the first period, but Jerome Samson tied the game at 1-1 with a power play goal in the final minute of the second period. With everything to play for in the third period it was Worcester that pulled away, scoring two goals in the span of 2:03 and cruising to a 4-1 win. Albany made up for it with a bang on Saturday night as they faced the first place Hershey Bears at the Giant Center. The Rats were 0-2-1-1 in their first four meetings with the AHL's top team, but were not phased by the impressive offense and took an early 2-0 lead. That lead evaporated in the second period as Hershey scored three, and then added a fourth-straight goal six minutes into the third period for a 4-2 lead. That's when the River Rats responded, as leading-scorer Michael Ryan scored 11 seconds later to make the game 4-3.

Jerome Samson tied the game at 13:02 and then Nick Dodge tipped in a Jonathan Paiement shot at 16:42, the eventual game-winner. Ryan added an empty net goal with a minute to play (his second tally of the game) as he silenced the crowd of 8,321. The Rats 6-4 win in Hershey marked their fourth-straight win over East Division opponents and gave the Bears just their fourth home loss of the year.

Week 15 Preview: Albany will not get to savor their win over Hershey for long as the team has to travel back to Chocolatetown for their sixth and final meeting of the 2008-09 regular season with the Bears on Wednesday night. The River Rats continue their season series with rival Syracuse on Friday night as they travel to the Onondaga County War Memorial where they are 0-1-0-1 this season against the Crunch (Albany is 1-1-0-0 against Syracuse at home this year).

Saturday night the Rats are back home to face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in what should be another thrilling East Division match up; the Penguins scored five-straight goals to beat Hershey 6-2 on Sunday afternoon. Albany will finish off their busy week with a 5:05 pm Sunday afternoon contest against the Philadelphia Phantoms at Wachovia Spectrum.

Week 15 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 14 - 7:00 pm - Giant Center - Hershey, PA @ Hershey Bears (28-11-0-1, 57 pts) First Place, East Division After losing to Albany 6-4 on Saturday, the Bears fell 6-2 on Sunday in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, just the third time this season that Hershey has lost two consecutive games in regulation. Alexandre Giroux leads the AHL in goals and has an 11-game goal scoring streak (16 goals), while Chris Bourque is on a 9-game assist streak (9 assists).

Leading Scorer: Keith Aucoin (C) - 51 points (14 goals, 37 assists) in 38 games played. Leading

Goaltender: Simeon Varlamov (G) - 2.26 GAA, 0.918 save pct., 16-4-0 record in 20 GP.

Who's Hot: Alexandre Giroux (C) - 10 points (9 goals, 1 assist) and a +1 rating in last five games played. Keith Aucoin (C) - 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) and a +1 rating in last five games played. Bryan Helmer (D) - 7 assists and a +6 rating in last five games played. Friday, January 16 - 7:30 pm - War Memorial at Oncenter - Syracuse, NY @ Syracuse Crunch (18-17-2-2, 40 pts) Fifth Place, North Division The Crunch finished up a six-game road span last weekend, rapping up the trip with a 3-2-1-0 record. Syracuse sandwiched two wins in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton around a Friday night loss in Rochester.

The Crunch beat the Penguins 2-4 on Wednesday night and then 4-3 in a shootout on Saturday at Wachovia Arena. Syracuse has not lost to Albany at home this season, but are dealing with multiple NHL call ups: Derek MacKenzie, Nikita Filatov and goaltender Dan LaCosta are all with Columbus. The Blue Jackets made a trade this past week, sending Adam Pineault to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for right wing Michael Bluden, who was assign to Syracuse. Leading Scorer: Mike York (LW) - 28 points (8 goals, 20 assists) in 36 games played. Leading Goaltender: Dan LaCosta (G) - 2.72 GAA, 0.914 save pct., 12-11-2 record in 28 GP. Who's Hot: Steve Kelly (LW) - 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in last five games played. Tom Sestito (LW) - 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) in last five games played. Mike York (C) - 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in last five games played. Saturday, January 17 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (24-13-1-2, 51 pts) Third Place, East Division The Penguins scored five straight goals to come from a 2-1 deficit to beat Hershey 6-2 Sunday at home, pulling Wilkes-Barre/Scranton within one point of second place Bridgeport (although the Pens have played two more games). The Penguins are 3-1-0-1 in their last five games and are 2-1-0-0 against Albany this year. Former River Rat Dave Gove, the Wilkes-Barre captain, has missed their last 20 games due to injury and is not expected to return to the lineup this week. Goalie John Curry has started 10 of the Penguins last 13 games, and four of their last five, and has a 8-2-0 record in that span.

Leading Scorers: Chris Minard (LW) - 41 points (26 goals, 15 assists) in 31 games played & Jeff Taffe (C) - 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) in 35 games played.

Leading Goaltender: Adam Berkhoel (G) - 2.43 GAA, 0.916 save pct., 12-6-2 record in 20 GP.

Who's Hot: Janne Pesonen (LW) - 9 points (4 goals, 5 assists) and a +4 rating in last five games played. Luca Caputi (LW) - 6 points (1 goal, 5 assists) in last five games played. Mark Letestu (C) - 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a +4 rating in last five games played. Sunday, January 18 - 5:05 pm - Wachovia Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA @ Philadelphia Phantoms (20-18-1-1, 42 pts) Fifth Place, East Division The Phantoms have struggled lately, going 1-7-1-1 in their last ten games and have fallen into fifth place, currently outside the East Division playoff spots.

After beating Grand Rapids 4-3 in overtime on a David Laliberte goal on Friday night, Philadelphia was shutout in back-to-back games, losing 4-0 at Grand Rapids on Saturday and 3-0 at Lake Erie on Sunday. Combined the Phantoms allowed seven goals on 86 shots on goal in those two games and have not scored a goal in an even 120 minutes of play. The Flyers recalled goaltender Scott Munroe on January 5th, so the Phantoms had to recall Michael Teslak from the ECHL's Mississippi Sea Wolves. Teslak has started all four games since Munore's call up; while J.S. Aubin has not seen action since being pulled after the first period on January 3rd in Toronto.

Leading Scorer: Danny Syvret (D) - 35 points (5 goals, 30 assists) in 35 games played.

Leading Goaltender: Scott Munroe (G) - 2.71 GAA, 0.920 save pct., 14-9-1 record in 25 GP.

Who's Hot: Danny Syvret (D) - 3 assists in last five games played. Rob Sirianni (RW) - 3assists and in last five games played. David Laliberte (RW) - 2 goals in last five games played. Jeff Szwez (RW) - 2 goals in last five games played.

Week 14 Game Results: 1/9/09

Albany 1 @ Worcester 4 1/10/09 Albany 6 @ Hershey 4

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 14)

Jonathan Paiement - D - #27

2 GP, 4 Points (0 Goals, 4 Assists), +1 rating, 0 PIMs Defenseman Jonathan Paiement had an outstanding weekend for the River Rats, leading the team in points with four assists in two games played. The Montreal, Quebec native was one of just two players to record a point in Albany's 4-1 loss at Worcester Friday night. Paiement stepped up his game on Saturday night, playing in Hershey against his former team. The Rats 23-year old had a season-high three assists, helping Albany come back from a 4-2 deficit to beat the first place Bears 6-4 at Giant Center. Since being recalled from the Florida Everblades (ECHL) in early November, Paiement has played in 18 straight games, and 26-of-27 games, as his play on the ice has earned him a spot in the lineup. In 27 games played for Albany this season Paiement has eight assists and ranks fourth amongst Rats defensemen in points.

Rat Bites: -

RYAN EQUALS WINS - All-Star left wing Michael Ryan's point production has been an essential part of the River Rats success this season. Ryan, who is leading the team with 27 points (15 goals, 12 assists), has scored at least one point in all but one of Albany's 14 wins since the winger joined the team on October 31st. The only win where Ryan did not make the score sheet was 3-1 victory over Syracuse on November 21st.

GOALS EQUALS WINS - Albany is 6-0-0-0 during the 2008-09 season when scoring four or more goals in a game. On the flip side the River Rats are 1-13-1-1 when scoring two or fewer goals. They are 8-5-2-1 when scoring three goals in a game this year.

MILESTONES - Goaltender Justin Peters played in his 100th career Pro game on Friday in Worcester. There were three milestones on Saturday in Hershey: defenseman Brett Carson tallied his 50th career AHL assist, goaltender Daniel Manzato played in his 1,000th AHL minute and right wing Jakub Petruzalek scored his 100th career AHL point, part a three-point game (1 goal, 2 assists) for the Litvinov, Czech Republic native.

WHAT A COMEBACK! - The River Rats four-goal third period equaled a 2008-09 season high for goals in one period; they also netted four in the third frame on December 5th in an 8-1 win over Norfolk at the Times Union Center. More amazing is that Albany is 3-14-0-1 this season when trailing after two periods, and they accomplished the feat against Hershey, who is 15-4-0-0 at home this year.

MORE CHOCOLATE NOTES - Saturday's 6-4 win over Hershey tied Albany's season high for combined goals in a game (10). The first ten-goal game of the season came on December 6th in a 7-3 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Hershey's two goals in the final minute of the second period were the fastest back-to-back strikes against the River Rats this season at just 25 seconds apart: Alexandre Giroux tied the game at 2-2 at 19:06 and Kyle Wilson made it 3-2 for the Bears at 19:31.

DIVISIONIAL SUCCESS - The Rats is on a four-game winning streak against Easter Division opponents, with wins at Binghamton, vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, vs. Bridgeport and at Hershey. Albany is now 8-11-2-1 in the division. -

HELPING HAND - Defenseman Jonathan Paiement tied a 2008-09 River Rats single-game high by notching three assists on Saturday in Hershey. Paiement, who has eight assists in 27 games this year, joined Pat Dwyer, Jerome Samson and Jakub Petruzalek, who have also posted three-assist games this season.

River Rats Recent Transactions

January 9 - ADD Danick Bouchard (RW) - Signed PTO, called up from Florida (ECHL).

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

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played:Mike Angelidis, Nicolas Blanchard, Nick Dodge & Jakub Petruzalek, (38)

Goals: Michael Ryan (15)

Assists: Bryan Rodney (16)

Points: Michael Ryan (27)

Plus/Minus: Josef Melichar (+4) 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 (97)

Shooting Percentage: Michael Ryan (18.8%)

Saves: Justin Peters (619)

Wins: Daniel Manzato (9)

GAA: Justin Peters (2.68)

Save Percentage: Justin Peters (0.914)

Four days after beating Hershey 6-4 at the Giant Center, the River Rats will return to Pennsylvania on Wednesday, January 14th; for a 7:00 pm face off against the Bears. The River Rats next home game takes place on Saturday, January 17th at 7:00 pm against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins at the Times Union Center. River Rats flex ticket packages and individual game tickets are on sale now at the River Rats office and the Times Union Center Box Office.

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



American Hockey League Stories from January 12, 2009


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central