River Rats looking to build momentum

ALBANY — Rare are the times this season when the Albany River Rats will play the same opponent in back-to-back games, playoff style.

Rarer still is having it happen on home ice.

The Rats host Norfolk tonight at 7 at the Times Union Center, 48 hours after beating the Admirals in a shootout, 3-2. While it is the second of six occasions in the

80-game regular season where their opponent is the same as the previous game, it is the only time it will happen in Albany.

“It is different, that’s for sure,” captain Tim Conboy said following practice Thursday morning. “Anytime you play anyone two times in a row, there may be a little bad blood that spills over. We’ve just got to keep doing the same things we’ve been doing to get us here.”

Though they extended their streak to a season-high six games with at least one standings point

(4-0-1-1), Wednesday’s emotional and physical victory marked the first time this season that the Rats (7-9-3-2) have won successive games.

A win tonight, in regulation or otherwise, would push Albany past Norfolk (7-12-1-4) and out of last place in the East Division.

“This is a huge game for us, as was [Wednesday] night,” defenseman Mark Flood said. “We’re both kind of neck-and-neck. They’re

going to come out strong We have to come out very strong in the first period and carry it on from there.”

Norfolk has lost eight of its last 11 games after winning three in a row Nov. 7-11. The Admirals host the Rats Dec. 17 and 19.

“They’re fighting for points, and so are we,” Norfolk coach Darren Rumble said. “I know they’ve been playing well. They think that they’re close to getting some results, and so are we. It should be another tight game.”

Albany blew leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on Wednesday. The Rats outshot Norfolk, 17-6, in the first period, then were outshot, 27-20, over the next two periods and overtime.

“They’re a team that plays hard,” Albany head coach-GM Jeff Daniels said. “We saw that the other night with the way they came on in the second and third period.

Obviously, playing a team in your division sparks a little hatred, I guess, between the two teams.

“You never know. Sometimes, it carries over, and sometimes, it’s a completely different game. Our mindset is, we have to play our game and see what happens. We can’t get away from our game. We want to play hard from whistle to whistle.”

There was only one fight, between Albany’s Trevor Gillies and Norfolk’s Brent Henley, 2:40 into Wednesday’s game, but the hitting and jawing picked up considerably as the game progressed.

“We’ve had a problem having consistent efforts from everyone in the lineup,” Admirals captain Zenon Konopka said. “We need everyone going. That team is desperate for points, and we are, too. I don’t know if we all played like desperate players [Wednesday] night from our side. We need to improve that [tonight].”

NOTEBOOK

The Rats play at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday and in Rochester on Sunday. . . . Saturday’s game is the first against former defenseman Joey Mormina, who signed with the Penguins this summer. . . .

Daniel Manzato, winner of back-to-back starts for Albany, will get the call again tonight. Daniels said he would like to get backup David Leggio, recalled Tuesday from ECHL Florida, some time this weekend. . . .

Albany will remain without

injured forwards Dan LaCouture and Ryan Weston this weekend, along with Benn Olson, Brett Bellemore and Bobby Hughes, all hurt. . . . Daniels said he was working on bringing in another forward to balance out the lines. . . .

Michael Ryan (2-3-5) and Jakub Petruzalek (3-1-4) are on four-game point streaks for the Rats, while Brandon Bochenski (4-5-9) in on a five-game run for Norfolk.