River Rats Weekly

Published on November 23, 2009 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


Albany opened its week with a home win over Syracuse, before dropping consecutive road contests in Manchester and Binghamton. The River Rats scored four-straight goals Wednesday night, including a pair from Drayson Bowman, and goaltender Mike Murphy stopped 29-of-31 shots faced as Albany defeated the Syracuse Crunch 5-2. The River Rats played even against the Eastern Conference-leading Monarchs Friday night and were tied at 1-1 midway through the third period when Bud Holloway broke through to claim a 2-1 victory for Manchester. Albany's three-game week concluded Saturday in Binghamton, where the Senators unloaded 50 shots with Ryan Keller and Josh Hennessy each scoring twice en route to a 4-1 B-Sens victory.

Week 9 Preview:

All fans can purchase tickets for just five dollars on Wednesday, November 25th at 7:00 p.m when the River Rats play their third straight mid-week game against the Syracuse Crunch. Albany then travels to Norfolk for a pair of weekend games against the Admirals on Friday, November 27th and Saturday, November 28th, both at 7:15 p.m.

Week 9 Game Schedule:

(All games are broadcast LIVE on WROW 590 AM "Newstalk 590," are streamed free over the Internet at www.wrow.com and can be watched via internet pay-per-view video on www.ahllive.com)

Wednesday, November 25th - 7:00 pm - Times Union Center - Albany, NY

vs. Syracuse Crunch (6-9-2-2, 16 pts)

Seventh Place, East Division

- Wednesday marks the third straight week in which the Crunch and the River Rats have squared-off in a mid-week contest. Syracuse stole the first game back on November 11th with a 4-3 come-from-behind shootout victory in Central New York. Albany exacted revenge one week later with a 5-2 final on November 18th at the Times Union Center. The Crunch lost by the same score Friday in Rochester, but earned their first win in five games Saturday with a 2-1 home decision over Hartford. The teams meet a total of eight times this season, with the next East Division tilt set for December 19th in Syracuse.

- Leading Scorer: Alexandre Picard (LW) - 14 points (8 goals, 6 assists) in 18 GP.

- Leading Goaltender: Kevin Lalande (G) - 2.62 GAA, .918 save pct., 3-4-1 in 9 GP.

- Who's Hot: Maksim Mayorov (RW) - two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in his last two games. Dan Fritchse (RW) - two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in his last two games. Alexandre Picard (LW) - three points (2 goals, 1 assists) in his last four match-ups.

Friday, November 27th AND Saturday, November 28th - 7:30 pm - Norfolk Scope - Norfolk, VA

vs. Norfolk Admirals (10-11-1-0, 21 pts)

Tied-Second Place, East Division

- The Admirals are in the midst of a grueling eight-game road trip and have lost three straight, falling to 2-4-1-0 on the trek. The team plays its eighth and final game of the road trip at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Wednesday, before returning to Norfolk for a pair of contests against the River Rats. Friday night will be the third-of-eight meetings this season. Albany turned in a pair of home ice victories in their first two games against Norfolk with a 3-1 score on October 14th and then a 2-1 overtime final on November 14th.

- Leading Scorer: Brandon Bochenski (RW) - 20 points (12 goals, 8 assists) in 20 GP.

- Leading Goaltender: Riku Helenius (G) - 1.84 GAA, .923 save pct., 4-3-0 in 7 GP.

- Who's Hot: Radek Smolenak (LW) - two assists in his last game. Matt Syroczynski (LW) - two points (1 goal, 1 assist) in his last two games. Blair Jones (C) - nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) in his last eight contests.

River Rats Player of the Week: (Week 8)

Chris Terry - RW - #25

Day Opponent G A Pts. Notable

Wed. vs. Syracuse 0 1 1 Extended his assists streak to two games

Fri. at Manchester 0 1 1 Assisted on Albany's only goal for a three game assist streak

Sat. at Binghamton 0 1 1 Assisted on Albany's only goal for a four game assist streak

Totals 0 3 3 Plus-2 rating with a point in every game

Rookie Chris Terry scored a point in all three River Rats games last week and registered a plus-2 plus-minus rating to earn River Rats Player Of The Week honors for Week 8. Terry's four-game assist streak tied a team season-high, set by Zach Boychuk (OCT 3 vs. MAN - OCT 14 vs. NOR, 5 assists) and is just three shy of the AHL season-high, held by Grand Rapids' Kris Newbury. The three-point week pushed Terry into sixth place in the Albany scoring race with nine points (3-6-9) through 21 games.

Rat Bites:

- ROAD LOSSES - Albany is 1-6-0-1 away from the Times Union Center this season, with their only road win coming in their first away game of the year on October 24th in Glens Falls. In their last seven road games the River Rats have been out-scored 29-12 and the club will have a chance to put an end to the string this weekend in Virginia.

- ROOKIE GOALIE - Mike Murphy started all three games this week for Albany in place of regular starter Justin Peters, who was on recall to Carolina (NHL). Murphy had only played in five professional games before this week, and he'd never started back-to-back contests, but the rookie netminder allowed just eight goals (2.66 GAA) on 111 shots (.928 sv%) in three games last week. He's now 3-5-0-0 with a 2.91 GAA and a 0.915 save-percentage in eight starts this season.

- B-SENSE UNLOAD A HALF-CENTURY - Binghamton totaled 50 shots on goal Saturday night against Albany to set a River Rats season-high for shots faced. The next highest shots-against total this season was 38, which occurred both on October 14th against Norfolk (Won 3-1) and on October 30th against Springfield (3-4 Shootout Loss). Albany's highest shots-for this season is 44, unleashed on November 18th against Syracuse.

- FIRST PERIOD DROUGHT - Albany has not scored a first period goal in six straight contests. The River Rats are 5-1-0-1 when scoring the game's first goal and they're 2-0-0-1 when leading after the first period. Albany has been out-scored 19-9 in the opening frame this season, despite out-shooting opponents 214-213. In the final two periods the River Rats have out-scored opponents 42-40 and out-shot opponents 452-422.

- MINOR-LESS - Jamie McBain is the only River Rats skater to have played in each of Albany's 21 games without recording a penalty minute. Defensemen Brett Carson (9GP) has also stayed out of the box in limited action this season.

River Rats Recent Transactions

November 20 ADD - Bryan Rodney (D) - Returned to loan by Carolina (NHL)

November 19 DELETE - Pat Dwyer (RW) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL)

DELETE - Benn Olson (D) - Loaned to Florida (ECHL)

Nobember 18 DELETE - Justin Peters (G) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL)

ADD - Tim Conboy (D) - Loaned by Carolina (NHL)

ADD - Mike Morrison (G) - Recalled from loan with Florida (ECHL)

November 11 DELETE - Bryan Rodney (D) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL)

November 8 ADD - Zach Boychuk (C) - Returned to loan by Carolina (NHL)

November 5 DELETE - Zach Boychuk (C) - Recalled from loan by Carolina (NHL)

November 3 ADD - Jay Harrison (D) -Loaned from Carolina (NHL)

DELETE - Jacob Micflikier (LW) - Returned to Loan with Florida (ECHL)

Promotional Information

All Seats Are Just $5.00!

Date: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 vs. Syracuse Crunch

Time: 7:00 p.m. at Times Union Center

Ticket Discount: The River Rats will offer $5.00 tickets for one night only to their Thanksgiving Eve home game against Syracuse.

Ticket Info: Tickets can be purchased by calling the Times Union Center box office at 487-2000, by visiting or calling www.tickets.com at 1-800-30-EVENT, or by visiting select Price Chopper Outlets.

Albany River Rats Team Leaders:

Games Played: Six Players Tied (21)

Goals: Pat Dwyer (9)

Assists: Jerome Samson (11)

Points: Jerome Samson (18)

Plus/Minus: Brett Bellemore (+5)

Penalty Minutes: Brad Herauf (74)

Power Play Goals: Pat Dwyer (3)

Short Handed Goals: Pat Dwyer (2)

Game-Winning Goals: Jerome Samson (2), Pat Dwyer (2), Zach Boychuk (2)

Shots: Jerome Samson (106)

Shooting Percentage: Steven Goertzen (0.158%)

Saves: Justin Peters (336)

Wins: Justin Peters (6)

GAA: Justin Peters (2.43)

Save Percentage: Mike Murphy (0.915)

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American Hockey League Stories from November 23, 2009


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