Sabourin Stymies Rats

March 28, 2009 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - Goaltender Dany Sabourin made 38 saves to lead the Springfield Falcons to a 3-1 win over the Albany River Rats Saturday night at the Times Union Center.

Albany looked strong to start the game, but the Falcons took control midway through the opening period with two quick goals. The first tally came at 8:02 when former River Rat Shane Willis tapped home a loose rebound at the side of the net; Ryan O'Marra and Rob Schremp assisted on Willis' fourth of the year. Just 1:33 later Albany coughed up the puck at their own blue line, sending Ryan Stone and Ryan Potulny on a two-on-zero rush. Springfield's top two points-leaders combined for a close range tick-tac-toe play that saw Stone send a one-timer behind a sprawling, and stranded, Albany goaltender Justin Peters at 9:35; it was Stone's 50th point of the year. Sparked by their energy line of Aaron Clark, Tomas Pospisil and Harrison Reed, the River Rats had a few good scoring opportunities during the second half of the period, but Springfield goalie Dany Sabourin kept his team ahead 2-0 with some fantastic saves.

Albany continued to pressure the Falcons end in the middle frame and out-shot Springfield 13-7, but Sabourin seemed to have an answer for everything and he took his clean sheet to the dressing room. Early in the third period the River Rats' energy line created more opportunities, but Clark's shot hit the cross bar and Pospisil was denied by Sabourin from close-range. Potulny then put his team ahead 3-0 at 11:03 with a diving shot that snuck in between Peters' leg pad and the post. Ryan Weston finally broke through for Albany, crashing the net hard to knock in a short-handed goal on a rebound from Brandon Sutter's break-away at 15:34. The River Rats pulled their goalie for the extra attacker in the final minutes of play, but Sabourin capped off his night with a number of excellent sprawling saves to secure the 3-1 win.

Springfield's Dany Sabourin stopped 38-of-39 shots faced and earned the win as the Falcons improved to 23-39-7-4 on the season. Albany's Justin Peters allowed three goals on 27 shots and took the loss as the River Rats fell to 31-34-3-4 on the year. Albany out-shot Springfield 39-27 in the game and went 0-for-5 on the power play; the Falcons were 0-for-1 on the man advantage.

The River Rats return to action on Tuesday, March 31st as they host the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for a 7:00 pm face off at the Times Union Center. This game is a make up date from the originally scheduled game on February 20th, which was postponed due to Albany's bus crash.

River Rats flex ticket packages and individual game tickets for the remainder of the 2008-09 season 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 March 28, 2009


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