Albany takes 2-0 series lead
Jamie McBain scored a late third period goal as the Albany River Rats defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins by a score of 3-2 on Friday night at the Times Union Center to take a 2-0 series lead in the best-of-seven East Division Semifinals.
The series now shifts to Wilkes Barre for games 3 and 4 on Sunday and Tuesday.
The Penguins who entered the series as under-dogs got a strong game from top prospect Eric Tangradi who according to sources could be added to the Penguins playoff roster as early as Wednesday, if Wilkes Barre is eliminated.
Tangradi opened the scoring for Wilkes Barre off a strong cycle with teammate Joe Vitale and a mis-cue defensively by the River Rats as Tangradi was left all alone just inside the right face-off circle, beating netminder Justin Peters with a backhand goal to give Wilkes Barre a 1-0 first period lead.
It was Tangradi’s first career playoff goal as the young forward is having a strong second half of the season. Tangradi had a goal and a team-high plus-2 rating on the night.
Wilkes Barre fell behind 2-1, until Konstantin Pushkarev scored the game-tying goal with 5:10 remaining but the River Rats quickly responded as McBain scored just a 1:08 later to give Albany a 3-2 lead.
John Curry made 29 saves in the loss. Curry got the start as Brad Thiessen was recalled to Pittsburgh.
Game 3 is Sunday at 3:05 p.m.
