LAST WEEK: The B-Sens (9-7-2-1, 21 pts.) played three games in three days, grabbing three of a possible six points to move the club into a tie for third place in the East Division.
FRIDAY, NOV. 21 vs. TORONTO (3-0 L): The Marlies shut out the B-Sens 3-0 in Toronto’s only visit to Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena this season. The loss was Binghamton’s third straight and gave Marlie goaltender Adam Munro his first shutout of the season. While Binghamton netminder Brian Elliott turned away 35 shots, Toronto took advantage of its nine power plays, scoring all their goals on the man-advantages. Toronto right wing veteran Jeremy Williams earned three points, netting two shots passed Elliott and assisting on the Marlies’ final goal.
SATURDAY, NOV. 22 vs. PHILADELPHA (4-3 OTL): The B-Sens ended their three-game scoring drought and picked up a point in an 4-3 overtime loss against Philadelphia. The teams traded scoring opportunities, with the Phantoms netting three in the first period and the B-Sens collecting three of their own in the second period. Center Josh Hennessy’s goal at 7:56 gave Binghamton its first marker in more than 218 minutes, and three-and-a-half minutes later newly signed right wing Rob Sirianni scored his first American Hockey League goal on penalty shot. Netminder Jeff Glass saved a season-high 38 shots before Philadelphia’s standout rookie Claude Giroux cut through traffic and lasered a shot passed Glass with 54 seconds left in OT.
SUNDAY, NOV. 23 @ SYRACUSE (2-1 W): In the weekend’s final contest, Binghamton traveled north for an afternoon matinee against Syracuse and left with a 2-1 victory, thanks to Josh Hennessy’s two-goal performance. The center’s first-period power-play goal was set up in part by defenseman Mattias Karlsson, who earned his 10th assist of the season and ties him with center Ilya Zubov as the team’s leader in that category. Danny Bois earned his second point in two nights with an assist of his own, batting a deflected puck to an open Hennessy with less than 30 seconds in the third period to secure Binghamton’s win.
THIS WEEK: The B-Sens play four games in five nights, including back-to-back games against the Hamilton Bulldogs (13-5-1-0, 27 pts.). The series opens at Binghamton Saturday night, with both teams then traveling to Montreal for a Sunday evening battle at the Bell Centre. Binghamton, though, will first visit Hershey (14-5-0-1, 29 pts.) for the third time in a month, then head home for a Thanksgiving Day divisional game against the Albany River Rats (4-9-2-2, 12 pts.).
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 26 @ HERSHEY (7:00 p.m.): The B-Sens suffered their worst loss of the 2008-09 season against the Bears back on Nov. l6, and Binghamton looks to avenge the defeat with reassigned center Ilya Zubov back on the roster. Hershey has out shot Binghamton 81-57 in the teams’ two earlier meetings, and the Bears have stymied the B-Sens power play, 1-for-9. Center Keith Aucoin leads the high-scoring Hershey attack with 21 assist and 29 points, both tops in the AHL.
THURSDAY, NOV. 27 vs. ALBANY (6:05 p.m.): In their traditional Thanksgiving Day game, the B-Sens welcome the Albany River Rats to the Arena for the first time this season. The teams last saw each other in late October, with Binghamton capturing the victory in a 4-3 overtime win. B-Sens goal leader Zack Smith notched his fourth and fifth markers in that contest, including the game-winning goal 33 seconds into overtime. Netminder Justin Peters posted a 43-save shutout win over Syracuse in his last start between the pipes.
SATURDAY, NOV. 29 vs. HAMILTON (7:05 p.m.)
SUNDAY, NOV. 30 @ HAMILTON - played in Montreal, QC (5:00 p.m.): The B-Sens welcome the Hamilton Bulldogs to the Arena on Saturday night before both teams head to Montreal for a Sunday matinee. Hamilton owns the league’s fourth-best penalty killing rating at 87.6 percent. Hamilton has won two straight and four of their last five games to climb the North Division standings to second place. Netminder Marc Denis leads the AHL in wins with 11.
SENS SNIPPETS:
- The Binghamton Senators ended their scoreless streak at 218:57 minutes (franchise record) in their game against the visiting Philadelphia Phantoms when center Josh Hennessy scored off his own rebound shot at 7:56 in the second period.
- With three goals this past weekend, Hennessy continues to climb the B-Sens all-time lists. He is currently in eighth place in both goals (53) and points (117). He’ll tie former AHL most valuable player Jason Spezza with his next goal.
- The B-Sens were award their first penalty shot since 2/1/08 on Saturday night against Philadelphia. Newcomer Rob Sirianni converting for his first AHL goal and point. The team is now 6-for-15 in penalty shots all time.
- Binghamton took 43 shots-on-goal against Philadelphia, their most this season.
- Jeff Glass played in his 100th AHL game on Saturday night against Philadelphia.
- Wednesday night’s game against the Hershey Bears marks the B-Sens 500th AHL contest.
B-SENS LEADERS:
POINTS: Zubov (8+10=18)
GOALS: Z. Smith (9)
ASSISTS: Karlsson & Zubov (10)
POWER-PLAY GOALS: Z. Smith (4)
SHORT-HANDED GOALS: None
GAME-WINNING GOALS: Z. Smith & Zubov (2)
SHOTS: Z. Smith (49)
WINS: Elliott (8)
SAVES: Elliott (422)
GAA: Elliott (2.68)
SAVE PERCENTAGE: Elliott (0.917)
B-SENS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
11-24-08 - Off
11-25-08 - 10:30 - 11:30 - BCVMA
11-26-08 - 10 - 10:45 - game-day skate - BCVMA
Game - 7 @ Hershey
11-27-08 - 10 - 10:45 - game-day skate - BCVMA
Game - 6:05 vs. Albany
11-28-08 - 10:30 - 11:30 - BCVMA
11-29-08 - 10 - 10:45 - game-day skate - BCVMA
Game - 7:05 vs. Hamilton
11-30-08 - Game - 5 vs. Hamilton (played in Montreal, QC)
B-SENS ON THE AIR: Catch all the action LIVE on WINR 680-AM & WENE 1430-AM, via webcast or streaming video cast at www.ahllive.com
B-SENS TICKET PACKAGES: 2008-09 full-season, half-season tickets, coupon books, 10-game, 5-game and 4-game plans are on sale. For information on ticket packages contact the Binghamton Senators’ executive office at (607) 722-SENS.