LAST WEEK: The B-Sens continued their strong play as they took three of six points last week. Highlighting the week was a comeback victory over Albany on Wednesday night.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 22 @ ALBANY (4-3 W): The B-Sens found themselves down 3-0 to the River Rats early in the second period before they turned momentum in their favor. Winger Ryan Shannon put the B-Sens on the board with his second tally of the year. Defenseman Derek Smith followed with a power-play tally early in the third period. Rookie Zack Smith then took over, netting the game-tying goal in the final minutes of regulation before scoring the game-winner just 33 seconds into overtime.
FRIDAY, OCT. 24 @ SYRACUSE (4-3 OTL): The B-Sens jumped out quickly on the Crunch with two goals in the first 6:31. Ilya Zubov netted the first marker followed by countryman Alexander Nikulin. Brian Lee collected his first assist since being assigned from Ottawa. Ryan Shannon added a power-play tally late in the opening period to take a 3-1 lead into intermission. The Crunch used two power-play chances to tie the game over the final 40 minutes. Jonathan Sigalet scored the game-winner late in overtime to give Syracuse the extra point.
SATURDAY, OCT. 18 @ HERSHEY (3-2 L): Hershey came out firing against Binghamton on Saturday night, putting 20 shots on net in the first period to Binghamton’s three shots. Keith Aucoin netted a power-play tally early before Oskar Osala buried an unassisted tally to give the Bears a 2-0 advantage. Alexandre Giroux scored the eventual game-winner early in the third period. The B-Sens mounted a late comeback with goals from defensemen Brendan Bell and Matt Carkner. Binghamton momentarily scored a game-tying goal late in the game, but the goal was waived off.
THIS WEEK: The B-Sens return home to play the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on consecutive nights (Friday, Oct. 31 & Saturday, Nov. 1) at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
FRIDAY, OCT. 31 & SATURDAY, NOV. 1 vs. BRIDGEPORT (7:05 p.m.): The B-Sens get their first look at the Sound Tigers, who are out of the gates quickly in 2008. Bridgeport is 5-2-0-1 over its first eight games this season; good for second place in the East Division. Netminder Peter Mannino turned away 33 shots in a 2-0 shutout victory over the Worcester Sharks on Saturday night. Mannino currently leads the AHL in goals-against-average (0.65) and save percentage (0.980). Center Mike Iggulden leads the Sound Tigers attack with five goals and four assists for nine points. The B-Sens posted a 5-3-0-0 against the Sound Tigers in 2007-08. Center Josh Hennessy recorded 10 points (2+8) in eight games against Bridgeport last year, while netminder Jeff Glass won all three starts and posted a 1.33 goals-against-average and a 0.962 save percentage in 07-08.
SENS SNIPPETS: The B-Sens are looking to continue their good play and return home for their next four games. Netminder Brian Elliott remains on recall with Ottawa following a leg injury to Martin Gerber. After playing six of their first seven games on the road, the B-Sens play their next four games at home. The B-Sens face off against Bridgeport in four of their next six games. Winger Ryan Shannon extended his point streak to four games (2+3) with a helper against Hershey on Saturday. Defenseman Brendan Bell also extended his point streak to four games (2+2) with a power-play goal against the Bears.
B-SENS LEADERS:
POINTS: Shannon-(3+4=7)
GOALS: Z. Smith (5)
ASSISTS: Bell, Karlsson & Shannon (4)
POWER-PLAY GOALS: Shannon (2)
SHORT-HANDED GOALS: None
GAME-WINNING GOALS: Z. Smith (2)
SHOTS: Z. Smith (22)
WINS: Elliott (3)
SAVES: Elliott (145)
GAA: Glass (2.02)
SAVE PERCENTAGE: Glass (0.933)
PRACTICE & SCHEDULE:
Tuesday, Oct. 28 - 10:30-11:30 @ BCVMA
Wednesday, Oct. 29 - 10:30 - 11:30 @ BCVMA
Thursday, Oct. 30 - 10:30 - 11:30 @ BCVMA
Friday, Oct. 31 - 10 - 10:45 @ BCVMA
7:05 vs. Bridgeport
Saturday, Nov. 1 - 7:05 vs. Bridgeport
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.