Rats Rock Rochester

Are the Albany River Rats going to be fun this year or what?  About the only thing that didn't go right for the Rats Saturday night was when defenseman Jamie McBain had a give-away in his own zone breaking Mike Murphy's shutout.  Oh and how masterful Murphy was.  In his first pro start the River Rats rookie goalie turned away 28 shots and was a big part of why the Amerks went 0-6 on the power-play.  Murphy was absolutely stellar in his first AHL start in picking up the win.

As for the Rats offense, well that was pretty solid too.  Of course cashing in six goals will do that for you.  In the first Rats captain Pat Dwyer fired a shot off Amerks goalie Tyler Plante and Nick Dodge stuffed home the rebound giving Albany the lead.  In the second it was Dwyer again involved in the scoring, this time a short-handed goal roofed by a streaking Dwyer down the right side of the ice.

Albany showed they could get it done on the power-play as well.  The one and only  D.R.A.yson Bowman netted his third of the year in as many games, chasing Plante.  Amerks backup Alexander Salak fared no better as the Rats scored once again on the man advantage with "send it in" Jerome Samson lighting the lamp late in the second as well.

Then in the third it was Stefan Chaput-ting it in the net off a pass from Zach Boychuk who broke his stick on the pass, but he'd gladly trade the stick for a helper to put the Rats up five zip.  Finally midway through the third it was Zach Fitzgerald with the capper from the point and the River Rats rolled 6-1.

With the victory the River Rats improve their mark to 2-1-0-0 on the young campaign.

In other Empire State AHL action the Adirondack Phantoms dropped their first road contest in Syracuse 6-1 to the Crunch.