Albany, NY - The Albany River Rats (37-24-3-5) grabbed two golden points this afternoon as they beat their cross-state division nemesis Syracuse Crunch (29-32-3-3) by the score of 3-1 with just 11 games remaining in the playoff push. As big as a win it was for Albany it was probably a bigger loss for Syracuse as they find themselves now fading out of the playoff picture.

Mike Morrison looked solid in net as he stopped 27 Syracuse shots and Jamie McBain provided the game-winner in the second period before his Rats held on for the win.

“Every point matters, every team’s playing a lot of games this month. We’re all tired and banged up but we got a good group of guys here that just kind of saves their energy for when they need it. It was kind of quiet in here before in between periods because we’re just saving it for the 20 minute games that we’re playing here so it was a good weekend for us. One point two points we’ve got to get them, so today was a good win,” stated Morrison.

Just 1:16 into the contest Albany’s Steven Goertzen was victimized by the elbow of Syracuse’s Tom Sestito. Goertzen didn’t particularly like this and dropped his gloves, so did Sestito. The two hammered away at each other until Sestito began to fall to the ice but not without bringing his opponent with him. At this point the linesmen broke it up and inserted them in the sin bin.

The River Rats would get their opportunities to light the lamp throughout the period as they were on top in the shot department and clearly outplaying their opposition. Then at 10:27 they caught a break and took advantage as Centerman Cedric McNicoll intercepted a lazy pass in the Crunch zone and quickly wristed a shot from the left circle that rose over the shoulder of goalie Kevin Lalande which then bounced off the crossbar and into the back of the net. This one put the Rats up 1-0 and was McNicoll’s 5th of the season (unassisted).

By the time this frame ended the Rats would out shoot the Crunch 13-3, partly due to Syracuse having to kill off three power plays.

At 1:15 of the second period Albany’s Drayson Bowman would be cited for tripping. This would prove to be costly as it eventually allowed the Crunch to tie things up at 1-1. On the PP Brendan Bell would feed linemate Grant Clitsome the biscuit just above the right circle leading to a blast through the pads of Morrison. Also give an assist to Evan McGrath on this one which came at 3:02.

About 7 minutes later Syracuse would give the lead back to Albany after Jordan LaValle-Smotherman would also be called for tripping. The Rats capitalized when Defenseman Jamie McCain rifled a shot from the blue line that stunned Lalande as he probably did not even see it coming. This one came at 8:31 and put the home team up 2-1. Helpers were handed out to Bowman and Stefan Chaput.

The love between these two upstate New York rivals continued as Albany Assistant Captain Mike Angelidis decided to dance with the Crunch’s David Liffiton at the Albany blue line with 8:55 remaining in the period. It looked pretty wide open and began heating up until the linesmen bullied their way in between them and sent them away for five minutes to reflect on it.

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the period came when Albany was penalized at 17:18 and then again at 17:53 leading to a 5-on-3 for Syracuse for 1:25. Albany stood strong and long like the Great Wall of China and kept the Crunch out of the net. They were definitely aided when Crunch Centerman Greg Moore broke his stick in half when receiving a soft pass from his linemate, this allowed the Rats to clear the puck out of the zone during a time of high pressure.

“They have some good “D” that can fire it through screens and get some ugly chances and I thought our forwards did a good job of deterring them and really making them look for the perfect shot which wore down the clock a little bit,” described Morrison. “I was able to see the puck a little bit and make some saves especially with about 3 or 4 or 5 seconds left to keep the rebounds out of reach of them. We had good clears and it was a good unified effort.”

Shots on net through the second favored Albany 21-16.

At 3:17 of the final frame Albany would increase their lead to 3-1 when D-man Jonathan Paiement made a gorgeous yet lucky pass as he was falling down behind the Crunch net. The feed ricocheted off the corner of the post and onto an awaiting stick of Matthew Pistilli who was camped out at the doorstep of Lalande. He immediately flung it into the back of the net to cap off the play. This was the Winger’s 5th of the season (and also assisted by Casey Borer).

“Jonny sent it out to the front and caught both defenses sleeping and the puck landed right on my stick in front and I just had to put it in the back of the net. It feels good, it hasn’t happened too often this year so every chance I can get to get some offensive confidence I try to get it,” explained Pistilli.

With the combination of a late penalty called against Albany’s Brett Bellemore (hooking) and the Crunch lifting Lalande for an extra skater Syracuse had a 6-on-4 advantage for most of the final minute but were unable to find the back of the net. The horn then sounded and sent most of the 4,459 fans on hand home happy as their Rats have now posted points in their past seven games.

This was undeniably a huge 2 points in the tight East Division race.

Notes - Albany is now 4-2-01 against Syracuse this season……Albany netminder Justin Pogge was scratched from the lineup due to an injury (lower body) sustained in their game at Rochester on Friday night…..Rude-E was on hand again, this time asking the crowd what the monkey on Syracuse’s jersey has to do with the “Crunch?” I have to agree with him this time.

AHL Cool Fact! - During the 2008 East Division Semi-Final the Philadelphia Phantoms and the Albany River Rats scored a record low 12 goals combined in their 7 game series!