River Rats Weekly

February 10, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


Week 18 Recap:

The River Rats had just one game during Week 18 as they hosted the Portland Pirates on Saturday night at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Adirondacks proved to be friendly for Albany as the River Rats erased a 2-1 third period deficit to beat the Pirates 3-2 in a shootout. Defenseman Casey Borer scored his fourth goal of the year, and second at the GFCC, to put the Rats ahead 1-0 late in the first period. Portland's Colton Fretter needed just 1:48 of the second period to tie the game, and although the River Rats dominated the frame by out-shooting the Pirates 20-10, Mark Mancari gave the visitors a 2-1 lead late in the period with a power play goal at 17:15. Albany tied the game in the third period with a power play of their own from defenseman Mark Flood, his fourth of the year. After a scoreless overtime, Pat Dwyer and Jonathan Paiement each scored shootout goals, while Rats goaltender Justin Peters was a perfect 4-for-4 to give Albany the win.

Week 19 Preview:

The River Rats will play four games in five days this week, but got reinforcements as leading scorers Michael Ryan and Jakub Petruzalek returned from NHL call-up with Carolina on Monday. Also on Monday the Rats recalled center Bobby Hughes and defenseman Benn Olson from loan with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL. Hughes suffered a setback in the ECHL and will not be available for the Rats this week, but Olson should return to the lineup Tuesday night; the rookie blueliner has not played for Albany since suffering an injury on November 27th at Binghamton. On Tuesday morning the River Rats made another transaction as they returned left wing Yannick Tifu on loan to Florida (ECHL).

This week the River Rats are back to a full 20-man lineup, after only dressing 16 skaters against Portland last weekend. Albany will complete their four-game season series with the Pirates on Tuesday night in Buffalo as they clash at HSBC Arena. From western New York the team will head to the Southern Tier for a Wednesday night game in Binghamton at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena; their third of four road games against the B-Sens this year. Albany then returns home to the Times Union Center for the first time in since the All-Star Break, hosting the Springfield Falcons on Friday the 13th and then the Lowell Devils for a Valentine's Day game in the Capital District.

Week 19 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)

Tuesday, February 10 - 7:00 pm - HSBC Arena - Buffalo, NY @ Portland Pirates (26-20-1-3, 56 pts) Tied-Third Place, Atlantic Division

* Portland completes a three-game "road" trip on Tuesday in Buffalo; even though the game is over 500 miles away from their home arena, it still counts as a home game for the Pirates. Portland is 2-2-0-1 in their last five games. They snapped a three-game winless streak (0-2-0-1) by going to Hershey and beating the first place Bears 3-2 on Sunday at Giant Center.

* Leading Scorer: Mark Mancari (RW) - 45 points (19 goals, 26 assists) in 43 games played.

* Leading Goaltender: Jhonas Enroth (G) - 2.47 GAA, 0.922 save pct., 18-13-3 record in 37 GP.

* Who's Hot: Tim Kennedy (LW) - 6 points (2 goals, 4 assists) in last seven games played. Colton Fretter (C) - 3 goals and a +2 rating in last five games played. Nathan Gerbe (RW) - 2 assists and a +1 rating in last two games played.

Wednesday, February 11 - 7:05 pm - Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena - Binghamton, NY @ Binghamton Senators (27-16-5-3, 62 pts) Third Place, East Division

* The Senators are on a five game points streak, earning eight points and a 3-0-2-0 record over that span - since Curtis Hunt was named Head Coach when Cory Clouston was called-up to Ottawa. After consecutive overtime defeats last week they broke back into the win column with a 2-1 victory over Springfield on Sunday. Their recent run of form has pushed the B-Sens into third place in the East Division, one point ahead of Bridgeport and six points clear of fifth place Philadelphia. Goaltender Martin Gerber is 3-2-0 in his last five starts. Six of Binghamton's last seven games have been decided by one goal.

* Leading Scorer: Ilya Zubov (LW) - 37 points (12 goals, 25 assists) in 36 games played.

* Leading Goaltender: Martin Gerber (G) - 2.27 GAA, 0.928 save pct., 5-3-0 record in 8 GP.

* Who's Hot: Tomas Kudelka (D) - 7 points (2 goals, 5 assists) and a +2 rating in last five games played. Josh Hennessy (C) - 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) and a +2 rating in last five games played. Ilya Zubov (LW) - 4 assists and a +3 rating in last five games played.

Friday, February 13 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY vs. Springfield Falcons (16-27-6-1, 39 pts) Seventh Place, Atlantic Division

* With the second worst record in the AHL through 50 games this season (16-27-6-1, 39 pts) the Edmonton Oilers have removed Jeff Truitt as the Springfield Falcons head coach and introduced former Edmonton assistant coach Rob Daum as Falcons the new bench boss. Daum's first game behind the bench for Springfield will take place on Wednesday in Manchester. The Falcons are on a 6-game losing streak and a seven-game winless streak (0-6-1-0). Goaltender Devan Dubnyk has been the AHL's workhorse this season, leading the league in games played (43), minutes (2,485), saves (1,151) and losses (26). Springfield is 17 points behind Worcester for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division.

* Leading Scorer: Ryan Potulny (C) - 36 points (22 goals, 14 assists) in 41games played.

* Leading Goaltender: Devan Dubnyk (G) - 2.85 GAA, 0.907 save pct., 15-26-1 record in 43 GP.

* Who's Hot: Ryan Potulny (C) - 5 goals in last five games played. Rob Schremp (LW) - 2 assists in last two games played. Guillaume Lefebvre (LW) - 2 points (1 goal, 1 assists) and a +1 rating in last five games played.

Saturday, February 14 - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY vs. Lowell Devils (24-21-1-3, 52 pts) Fifth Place, Atlantic Division

* The Devils have won two straight games and five of their last seven games - all against Atlantic Division opponents. Lowell is currently four points behind Worcester for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division and have two games in hand on the Sharks. Rookie All-Star goaltender Jeff Frazee has played in 11 of the team's last 12 games and 24-of-27 games for the Devils.

* Leading Scorer: Jon DiSalvatore (RW) - 42 points (15 goals, 27 assists) in 48 games played.

* Leading Goaltender: Jeff Frazee (G) - 2.53 GAA, 0.925 save pct., 19-9-2 record in 32 GP.

* Who's Hot: Rod Pelley (C) - 6 points (3 goals, 3 assists) in last five games played. Matt Halischuk (RW) - 5 points (2 goals, 3 assists) and a +1 rating in last two games played. Vladimir Zharkov (RW) - 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist) and a +2 rating in last two games played.

Week 18 Game Results:

February 7, 2009 Portland 2 @ Albany 3 (2-0 in shootout) at GFCC

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 18)

Mark Flood - D - #4 1 GP, 2 Points (1 goal, 1 assist), Even, 0 PIMs

Defenseman Mark Flood played in his 200th career professional game and his 150th AHL game on January 31st to close out Week 17. In Albany's only game in Week 18 Flood was again in the headlines as he scored a game-high two points (1 goal, 1 assist) including scoring the game-tying goal on a power play early in the third period, helping the River Rats comeback for a 3-2 shootout win. The Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island native ranks second amongst Rats defenseman in points with 20 (4 goals, 16 assists) in 45 games played this season and became the eighth Albany player to reach the 20-point mark this year with his two-point game against Portland on Saturday.

Rat Bites:

- NHL FIRSTS - Defenseman Bryan Rodney and right wing Jakub Petruzalek each tallied their first career NHL points with assists for the Carolina Hurricanes. Rodney recorded his first NHL point last Tuesday in Vancouver, then added number two on Saturday in Phoenix. Petruzalek stole a clearing pass and set up a Sergei Samsonov goal in San Jose last Thursday during his NHL debut.

- CENTENNIAL AND A HALF - Assistant captain Mike Angelidis played in his 150th career AHL game last Saturday in Glens Falls. In his third year pro, Angelidis has 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists) and 302 penalty minutes; his entire AHL career has come wearing an Albany sweater.

- A DIFFERENT LINEUP - With Albany's three top shootout takers on NHL recall with Carolina, Pat Dwyer and Jonathan Paiement became the heroes of the River Rats 3-2 shootout victory over the Portland Pirates. Each player scored his first career AHL shootout goal: Dwyer, who scored the shootout-winner, was unsuccessful in his previous seven career shootout attempts; Paiement, who clinched the shootout win, missed in his only previous attempt, taken last season when he was with the Hershey Bears.

- GLENS FALLS TURN-AROUND - Last season when Albany lost their fifth straight "home" game at the Glens Falls Civic Center, it appeared that the building was not a good venue for the River Rats. But Pat Dwyer's overtime goal against Binghamton last March turned the tides and after the Rats beat Portland 3-2 in a shootout last Saturday, Albany has now won three consecutive Glens Falls games. They play two more games at the GFCC during the 2008-09 regular season.

- APPROACHING MILESTONES - With four games on the schedule this week four different River Rats could reach games played milestones. Pat Dwyer needs 1 GP to reach his 250th career AHL game; Michael Ryan needs 4 GP for his 246th career AHL game; Brad Herauf is four games shy of his 296th career Pro game and Joe Jensen needs four games for his 150th career Pro game.

- SPECIAL TEAMS - The River Rats penalty kill has thrived lately, successfully killing off 20 of their last 22 power plays against (90.9%) over a span of their last five games. The strong PK has moved Albany into four overall in the AHL this season with an 85.6% success rate (196-for-229). The Rats power play has also swelled in their last six games, scoring eight goals in 36 power play chances (22.2%). Albany ranks 20th in the league with a 16.1% success rate (41-for-255).

River Rats Recent Transactions

February 10 - DELETE Yannick Tifu (LW) - Returned on loan to Florida (ECHL).
February 9 - ADD Jakub Petruzalek (RW) - Returned on loan from Carolina (NHL).
February 9 - ADD Michael Ryan (LW) - Returned on loan from Carolina (NHL).
February 9 - ADD Bobby Hughes (C) - Reassigned by Carolina (NHL) from Florida (ECHL).
February 9 - ADD Benn Olson (D) - Recalled from loan to Florida (ECHL).
February 8 - DELETE Brock Hooton (RW) - Released from PTO - Returned to Reading (ECHL).
February 7 - ADD Brock Hooton (RW) - Signed PTO - Called up from Reading (ECHL).
February 7 - DELETE Josef Melichar (D) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL) and traded to Tampa Bay (NHL).
February 6 - DELETE Bobby Hughes (C) - Reassigned by Carolina (NHL) to Florida (ECHL).
February 4 - DELETE Jakub Petruzalek (RW) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL).

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Mike Angelidis, Nicolas Blanchard & Nick Dodge (49)
Goals: Michael Ryan (23)
Assists: Jakub Petruzalek (22)
Points: Michael Ryan (36)
Plus/Minus: Josef Melichar (+7)
Penalty Minutes: Trevor Gillies (125)
Power Play Goals: Michael Ryan (8)
Short Handed Goals: Pat Dwyer, Mark Flood & Dwight Helminen (1)
Game-Winning Goals: Michael Ryan (4)
Shots: Jerome Samson (134)
Shooting Percentage: Michael Ryan (21.9%)
Saves: Justin Peters (866)
Wins: Daniel Manzato (11)
GAA: Justin Peters (2.56)
Save Percentage: Justin Peters (0.919)

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The River Rats are in action at 7:00 pm on Tuesday, February 10th as they battle the Portland Pirates at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, home of the Buffalo Sabres. Albany's next home game at the Times Union Center is scheduled for Friday, February 13th as they host the Springfield Falcons for a 7:00 pm face off.

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. 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 10, 2009


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