River Rats Weekly

March 27, 2006 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


The Week Ahead:

The River Rats open a three-game homestand on Wednesday night against the Providence Bruins in a 7:00pm face-off at Pepsi Arena (6:45pm WABY AM 1160 & WVKZ 1240AM & B2 Networks @ www.albanyriverrats.com ). The Bruins (36-27-1-5, 4th Atlantic) dropped a 3-2 shootout decision to the Hartford Wolf*Pack at home last night. Former R.P.I. Engineer LW Eric Healey has 10 (1-9) points in the last five games and leads the AHL affiliate of the Boston Bruins with 68 (29-39) points in 64 games during the 2005-06 season. The River Rats have a 25-17-6-5 record in the all-time regular season series against the Bruins, which includes a 13-7-3-3 record at home. Albany shows a 2-1-1-1 mark against Providence this season and the teams close out the series with meetings on April 7th in Rhode Island and in the River Rats' home finale on April 15th at 5:00pm.

The River Rats then host the Norfolk Admirals for the third and final time on Friday night at 7:00pm. (6:45pm WABY AM 1160 & WVKZ 1240AM & B2 Networks @ www.albanyriverrats.com ). The Admirals (36-26-4-4, 3rd East) are coming off a 5-3 loss to the Portland Pirates at home on Saturday and visit the Philadelphia Phantoms on Wednesday night. C Martin St. Pierre shows nine (2-7) points over his last 10 games and leads the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, while ranking third among AHL rookies with 63 (19-44) points during the 2005-06 campaign. The River Rats have an 8-13-2-2 record in the all-time regular season series against the Admirals, including a 5-6-1-0 record on home ice. Albany 3-2-0-0 versus Norfolk this season with each team scoring 15 goals in the first five games.

Albany closes the weekend with a home-and-home series against the Atlantic Division-leading Portland Pirates starting with a 5:00pm face-off at Pepsi Arena on Saturday. The teams then meet at the Cumberland County Civic Center on Sunday afternoon at 4:05pm (6:45pm & 3:50pm WABY AM 1160 & WVKZ 1240AM; B2 Networks @ www.albanyriverrats.com ). The Pirates (44-18-5-3, 1st Atlantic) dropped a 4-1 decision to the Philadelphia Phantoms on Sunday and visit Manchester on Wednesday before a stop in Providence on Friday night. Rookie C Ryan Shannon has six (2-4) points in his last five games and stands second among all rookies, while leading the AHL affiliate of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks with 76 (23-53) points this season. The River Rats have a 19-17-5-3 record in the all-time regular season series against the Pirates, which includes records of 11-7-4 at home and 888-10-1-3 on the road. Albany stands 2-4-0-0 against Portland this year, having been outscored 32-22 in the previous six games.

Story Ideas

Nicklas Bergfors - There are not many times a 19-year-old leads a club in scoring but after trades and call-ups, the AHL's youngest player has picked it up. He has points in three straight games, plays in all situations and is excelling with added responsibility.

Rat Bites:

* G Frank Doyle, who served as Martin Brodeur's back-up in Atlanta on Thursday, returned to the lineup and made history on Saturday night in Philadelphia. The rookie goaltender made 38 saves to push his season total to 1,579 saves, surpassing G Peter Sidorkiewicz's total of 1,559 from the 1996-97 season.

* G Ari Ahonen set a new franchise record during the second period of the club's Wednesday night match-up in Binghamton. The fifth-year netminder made 43 saves against the Senators to push his career total to 5,023 saves, becoming the first stopper in club history to make 5,000 saves.

* D Dan McGillis has five (1-4-5) points during his current four-game, point-scoring streak and ranks second among River Rat blueliners with 22 (6-16) points in just 33 games.

River Rats Rewind: Week 25 - March 20, 2006 (0-2-0-1, 1pt)

March 22 - ALB 3 @ BNG 5 - C Nicklas Bergfors and LW Ahren Nittel staked the River Rats to a 2-0 lead by the 6:07 mark of the second period. RW Alexander Mogilny scored a power play goal in the third period and G Ari Ahonen stopped 43 shots on goal to become the first netminder in franchise history to make 5,000 saves.

March 24 - ALB 2 @ PHI 5 - C Nicklas Bergfors scored both Albany goals and G Josh Disher stopped 39 shots on goal in his first professional start. D Dan McGillis recorded an assist for the third straight game and RW Aaron Voros added the second assist on Bergfors' third goal in the last two games.

March 25 - ALB 1 @ WBS 2 F/SO -D Dan McGillis scored his first goal since January 25th and G Frank Doyle stopped 38 of 39 shots on goal as the club earned its first point of the season against the East Division leaders. C Nicklas Bergfors notched an assist to extend his point-scoring (1-3-4) streak to three games and D Bobby Allen added the other helper.



American Hockey League Stories from March 27, 2006


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