Michael Leighton made 24 saves, including 13 in the first period alone, to lead the Albany River Rats to a 1-0 victory against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night at the Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza.
The loss dropped the Penguins’ record to 3-4-0-0, while the River Rats upped their early season mark to 4-2-0-1.
The score was indicative of how the Penguins played, according to head coach Todd Richards.
“In the defensive zone we were much better, penalty killing was pretty good,” he said. “In the offensive zone, first period, I thought we were really good. [We were] able to generate opportunities, create some chances.
“The second and third period, it was tough for us to generate opportunities. I think you have to give them credit on how they played, but we need to find ways. We need players to make plays.”
The Penguins were put at a small handicap before the game, as Tyler Kennedy was summoned to Pittsburgh to replace Maxime Talbot, who was injured in a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night.
Still, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had the better of the play in the early going, out-shooting Albany 13-4 in the first 20 minutes.
The only goal of the opening period came off the stick of Pat Dwyer, who took a clean face-off win from Dave Gove and beat a screened Ty Conklin 16:18 into the contest.
But the clear difference in the game was Leighton, who made several big saves to keep the game deadlocked at 0-0 until Dwyer’s lone goal.
“I think he gave their team confidence,” Richards said of the Albany netminder. “And obviously when they scored the first goal, coming out of the first period 1-0, especially the way the period went, it probably did give them some confidence.
“That’s when we had energy.”
That energy seemed to disappear for long stretches in the second and third, as the River Rats held the Pens at bay to record their first win in Wilkes-Barre since December 10, 2004, a string of seven games.
NOTES: Penguins scratches were Kris Letang and Aaron Boogaard…Attendance was 7,543…Four cast members of the Emmy Award winning television show ‘The Office’ - Craig Robinson (Darryl), Angela Kinsey (Angela), Brian Baumgartner (Kevin) and Kate Flannery (Meredith) – paid a visit to the arena during the second intermission. More than a dozen of the show’s cast members are in the area participating in the first ever ‘The Office Convention’, being held in Scranton, the setting for the fictional program.
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