Senators Edge River Rats In Shootout 3-2

February 13, 2008 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Albany River Rats News Release


ALBANY, NY - The Binghamton Senators recorded their first victory of the season over the Albany River Rats with a 3-2 shootout win Wednesday night at the Times Union Center.

Both teams created chances in the opening period and each had two power plays, but the goaltenders dominated the headlines. Michael Leighton was the star of the first period, tying a season-high with 18 saves on 18 shots and he added several enormous saves on breakaways from Denis Hamel and Justin Mapletoft.

Binghamton struck first on their third power play of the night in the second period. Greg Mauldin collected the puck in the left wing corner, skated along the goal line and found a wide-open Hamel on the far post for a tap in goal at 15:25. The goal was Hamel's 22nd goal of the season and was assisted by Mauldin and Mapletoft.

Ilya Zubov doubled the B-Sens advantage at 2:06 of the third period when he took a pass from Shawn Weller and cranked a one-timer into the far side of the net for his 14th goal of the season and a 2-0 Binghamton lead. But the River Rats found their stride and mounted a fierce comeback effort. Jamie Johnson put Albany on the board with a highlight-reel quality power play goal at 5:15 to start the momentum. Johnson to a pass from Jakub Petruzalek in the slot, moved to his left and lifted a backhand shot up under the cross bar, beating Brian Elliot to the short side for his 12th goal of the season; Petruzalek and Brandon Nolan earned assists on the goal. Less than 90 seconds later Zubov was whistled for holding, giving Albany another power play. On the ensuing face off, Johnson won the draw to Nolan, who drove the net and lifted his own backhand into the roof of the net at 6:47 for his 22nd goal of the season, tying the game at two and forcing overtime.

In overtime neither team could make the killer blow so the game headed into a shootout with the coveted second point up for grabs. Niko Dimitrakos scored in the second round for Binghamton and Elliot stopped all five Albany shooters to earn the B-Sens first win over the River Rats this season.

Brian Elliot made 31 saves in 33 shots through 64:41 of ice time, then block all five shootout attempts to record his 10th win of the season, helping Binghamton improve to 25-19-4-4. Michael Leighton stopped 42-of-44 shots in his 64:56 minutes and then denied 3-of-4 shootout attempts as the River Rats earned a point, but dropped to 27-22-0-3 on the year. Albany finished the game 2-for-5 on the power play, while the Senators were 1-for-4 with the man advantage.

Albany continues their home stand on Friday night, February 15th as they battle the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 7:00 pm at the Times Union Center. Saturday, February 16th the Philadelphia Phantoms are in town and the River Rats will be holding their big 15th anniversary celebration.

Partial season tickets packages and flex tickets for the 2007-08 River Rats season are on sale now. 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 13, 2008


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