Coming off a 7-0 win over the Binghamton Senators on Saturday, the Albany River Rats were feeling pretty good.
Now, they have to channel the momentum from that win against a Norfolk team that enters today’s 5 p.m. game at the Times Union Center on a roll.
“We better,” Albany defenseman Bryan Rodney said. “They might be the hottest team in the league, them and Hershey. It’s going to be a tough test for us. They’ve been playing well. We know they’re going to be ready, and we better have the same effort as we did [Saturday].”
The Admirals are 10-1-1-1 in their last 13 games, and have pulled to within four points of Albany in the East Division standings. The Rats aren’t as hot, but have gone 7-4-1-1 in the same stretch.
However, in the last seven games, the Rats are an unimpressive 2-4-0-1. An 8-3 loss to Hershey started that slump, but Albany rookie goalie Mike Murphy is hopeful Saturday’s rout of the B-Sens, a team that has had Albany’s number in the teams’ first four meetings, could turn things around for the Rats.
“Especially with that win, that’s what we talked about,” Murphy said. “We have plenty of games coming up, and it seems like our division’s getting extremely tight. Norfolk’s winning a lot of games. We’ve got to build off this win.”
The 28-20-3-3 Rats haven’t played the 27-24-3-1 Admirals since back-to-back games Nov. 27-28. Norfolk won, 4-3, in overtime Nov. 27, but dropped a 3-2 decision to Albany the following day.
Rookie forward Zach Boychuk (two goals, two assists) leads Albany in games against Norfolk this season, with forward Stefan Chaput (1-2-3) just behind him. Both their totals are in four games against Norfolk, while in his two looks at the Admirals, Jacob Micflikier has two goals. Goalie Justin Peters is 3-0 against Norfolk, and Murphy lost his only start against the Admirals in overtime.
Both Boychuk and Peters have been playing with Carolina, and both were reassigned to Albany on Sunday while the NHL is on the Olympic break.
Categories: -Sports-
