LAST WEEK: Binghamton opened the 2008-09 campaign on the road with decisive wins over Toronto and Rochester, marking just the second time in franchise history that the team has opened with two consecutive wins. The B-Sens also opened the 2003-04 season with five straight victories.
FRIDAY, OCT. 10 @ TORONTO (2-1 W): Netminder Brian Elliott backstopped Binghamton to a 2-1 shootout win over the North Division Marlies. Toronto fired 27 shots at Elliott in the first two periods, with Elliott stopping each attempt. Center Josh Hennessy buried Binghamton’s lone goal of the night midway through the opening period to stake the B-Sens to a 1-0 advantage. The Marlies finally slipped the puck past Elliott in the early stages of the final period to tie the game at 1. Following a scoreless overtime session, the teams entered the shootout round, where defenseman Brendan Bell scored on Binghamton’s first attempt. B-Sens captain Denis Hamel sealed the win in the fifth shootout round, beating Justin Pogge for the shootout winner. Elliott finished the game with 33 saves, while Hennessy’s goal was his 50th in a B-Sens uniform.
SUNDAY, OCT. 12 @ ROCHESTER (3-1 W): The B-Sens capitalized on two early power plays to grab a 2-0 advantage over the Rochester Americans, AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers. Right-winger Ryan Shannon buried first power-play tally, his first as a B-Sen, at 10:19 of the opening period. Defenseman Brendan Bell assisted as did rookie forward Zack Smith. Smith, Ottawa’s third-round draft pick in the 2008 NHL entry draft, collected his first professional point. Just five minutes later Ilya Zubov notched Binghamton’s second power-play goal. Bell earned his second assist of the night on the goal, while fellow defenseman Mattias Karlsson also assisted. The B-Sens quickly added to their lead early in the second period when Zack Smith buried his first professional goal, and even-strength tally off a feed from Ryan Shannon. Brian Elliott held a shutout through 55 minutes of play before Tanner Glass found the back of the net to make it a 3-1 final. Elliott won his second straight game with 33 saves.
THIS WEEK: The B-Sens return home for their home opener on Friday, Oct. 17 against the Syracuse Crunch. The two teams faced each other twice in the preseason, with Binghamton taking a 2-1 win over the Crunch in Oswego, N.Y. on Friday, Oct. 3. Rookie Zack Smith buried both goals for Binghamton. The B-Sens head south to take on the Philadelphia Phantoms on Saturday, Oct. 18.
FRIDAY, OCT. 17 vs. SYRACUSE (7:05 p.m.): The Crunch also enter Friday night’s contest with a 2-0-0-0 record, with consecutive wins over Rochester this past weekend. With those two victories, the Crunch tied an American Hockey League record with 17 straight regular season victories, dating back to March 8 of the 2007-08 season. Unfortunately, the B-Sens have been on the losing end of three of those 17 wins. Center Derek MacKenzie, who collected 25 goals and 24 assists in 2007-08, powers the Crunch attack. Dan LaCosta backstopped the Crunch to their first two wins this year.
SATURDAY, OCT. 18 @ PHILADELPHIA (7:05 p.m.): The Phantoms split their first two games, first with a 2-1 win over Bridgeport followed by a 4-3 loss to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Winger Claude Giroux, Philadelphia’s first-round pick (22nd overall) in the 2006 NHL entry draft, skates for the Phantoms following a decorated junior career with Gatineau. The B-Sens won two of their last three against the Phantoms last season. The Phantoms are coached by former Binghamton and Ottawa head coach John Paddock.
SENS SNIPPETS: Center Josh Hennessy scored his 50th goal as a member of the Binghamton Senators on Friday night in Toronto. Hennessy continues to climb the all-time ranks for Binghamton, as he now sits four goals behind Jason Spezza (54), and six goals behind Brandon Bochenski and Chris Kelly (56). His 109 points (50+59) are good for ninth all-time, seven behind Brandon Bochenski (116) and nine behind Josh Langfeld (119).
Rookie Zack Smith collected his first professional points on Sunday in Rochester, scoring a power-play goal and adding an assist. The B-Sens continue their dominance over Rochester. With their win on Sunday, the B-Sens are 25-13-3-3-3 (W-L-T-OTL-SOL) all-time against the Amerks.
THE COUNTDOWN TO:
100 Defenseman Joe Rullier’s next point will be his 100th AHL point.
Center Josh Hennessy needs two assists to hit 100 for his AHL career.
Winger Greg Mauldin is seven points shy of 100 for his AHL career.
B-SENS LEADERS:
POINTS: Bell (0+2), Shannon (1+1) & Z. Smith (1+1)
GOALS: Hennessy, Shannon, Smith & Zubov (1)
ASSISTS: Bell (2)
POWER-PLAY GOALS: Shannon & Zubov (1)
SHORT-HANDED GOALS: None
GAME-WINNING GOALS: Zubov (1)
SHOTS: Shannon (7)
WINS: Elliott (2)
SAVES: Elliott (66)
GAA: Elliott (0.96)
SAVE PERCENTAGE: Elliott (0.971)
B-SENS IN THE COMMUNITY: The fourth annual Binghamton Senators Charity Golf Classic, benefiting the Family Enrichment Network, takes place on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at Endwell Greens. A shotgun start is slated for noon, with registration taking place from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. The tournament is a captain and crew style tournament, with one B-Sens’ player assigned to each team. A NHL/AHL auction and dinner follow the golf event. Media availability will be from 11 - 11:45 a.m.
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.
|
