LAST WEEK: The Binghamton Senators (29-20-5-3, 66 pts.) faced their lone opponent, the Norfolk Admirals, three times this past week and grabbed two points in a 6-3 win over the Admirals on Wednesday night at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18 vs. NORFOLK (6-3 W): The B-Sens tied a season-high with six goals in the first of eight games against the Admirals. Danny Bois, Denis Hamel and Zack Smith each tallied twice for Binghamton, while Marc Cavosie added three assists to tie a career-high. The B-Sens battled back from an early two-goal deficit with two goals in 16 seconds from Zack Smith to make it a 2-2 game at the end of the first period. Denis Hamel evened the score at 3 midway through the second period with his 17th marker of the season. Danny Bois put the game out of reach with two third-period goals before Hamel added a late empty netter. Netminder Martin Gerber made 40 saves to earn the victory.
FRIDAY, FEB. 20 @ NORFOLK (5-2 L): The Admirals jumped out to another 2-0 lead on Binghamton and this time made it stick. Norfolk outshot Binghamton 22-9 in the opening period, with goals from Justin Keller and Jay Rosehill. Denis Hamel put the B-Sens on the scoreboard with a power-play goal early in the second period. Brandon Segal pushed the lead back to two goals late in the middle period. Keller and Segal each buried their second goals of the night during the final period to secure the win for Norfolk. Defenseman Tomas Kudelka slip the puck past netminder Riku Helenius with just one second remaining in regulation to make it a 5-2 final.
SATURDAY, FEB. 21 @ NORFOLK (4-2 L): The B-Sens jumped out quickly in the final game of the week with left-winger Greg Mauldin scoring a season-high two goals during the opening period. The Admirals seized momentum back in the second period with two goals, one off the stick of former B-Sen Grant Potulny. Another former B-Sen, Brandon Bochenski, netted the game-winning goal in the early stages of the third period. Justin Keller added an insurance goal to make it a 4-2 final. The back-to-back regulation road losses were the first for Binghamton since the middle of November.
THIS WEEK: The B-Sens see two of their biggest rivals this week for back-to-back games against both teams. The B-Sens kick off their busy week by hosting the Hershey Bears (37-17-0-4, 78 pts.) on Wednesday night, followed by a re-match on Friday night. Binghamton then welcomes the Rochester Americans (22-32-0-5, 49 pts.) to the Arena on Saturday night before finishing the weekend with a Sunday evening contest against the Americans at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.
B-SENS GAME SCHEDULE
- WEDNESDAY, FEB. 25 vs. HERSHEY (7:05 p.m.)
- FRIDAY, FEB. 27 vs. HERSHEY (7:05 p.m.)
- SATURDAY, FEB. 28 vs. ROCHESTER (7:05 p.m.)
- SUNDAY, MAR. 1 @ ROCHESTER (6:05 p.m.)
VS. HERSHEY: The B-Sens have won their last two games against the Bears. Josh Hennessy buried two goals and netminder Jeff Glass turned away 30 shots to lead Binghamton to a 5-1 win over the Bears on Feb. 13. Hershey has struggled of late, going 5-5-0-0 over its last 10 games. The Bears still sit atop the East Division with a three-point advantage over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Former B-Sen Alexandre Giroux continues to lead the AHL with 39 goals, while Keith Aucoin leads the AHL in assists (54) and points (74). The B-Sens are 7-3-2-1 at home against the Bears over the last five seasons. Center Peter Regin has three assists in three games against Hershey this season.
VS. ROCHESTER: Binghamton has taken seven of a possible eight points against Rochester this season, with three wins to open the year and an overtime loss in its most recent game against the Americans. B-Sens captain Denis Hamel collected a four-point (2+2) game in Binghamton’s 4-2 on Jan. 10. Greg Mauldin (1+2) and Peter Regin (0+3) each collected three points in that win. Amerks netminder Mike Brodeur ranks third in the AHL in both goals-against-average (2.27) and save percentage (.928). Janis Sprukts leads the Americans with 15 goals and 36 points. The B-Sens haven’t lost a regulation game at home to Rochester since Dec. 23, 2007.
SENS SNIPPETS:
- Defenseman Mattias Karlsson tied a B-Sens franchise record (Ryan Vesce - 2+8 -2006-07) on Friday night in Norfolk with an assist in eight straight games (0+10).
- Denis Hamel shows a seven-game point streak (5+3) and has points in 12 of his last 13 games (10+8).
- Peter Regin is riding a five-game assist streak (0+5).
- Danny Bois tied a career-high with two goals and three points in Binghamton’s 6-3 win over Norfolk on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
- Marc Cavosie tied a career with three assists and three points in Binghamton’s 6-3 win over Norfolk on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
- Zack Smith scored two goals in 16 seconds (season-best) in Binghamton’s 6-3 win over Norfolk on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
- Defenseman Matt Carkner played in his 500th AHL game in Binghamton’s 5-2 loss to Norfolk on Friday, Feb. 20.
- Greg Mauldin tied a career-high with two goals in Binghamton’s 4-2 loss to Norfolk on Saturday, Feb. 21.
B-SENS LEADERS:
- POINTS: Zubov (12+25=37)
- GOALS: Hamel (19)
- ASSISTS: Karlsson (31)
- POWER-PLAY GOALS: Hamel & Hennessy (9)
- SHORT-HANDED GOALS: Bois & Hamel (2)
- GAME-WINNING GOALS: Hamel (5)
- SHOTS: Hamel (166)
- WINS: Gerber (6)
- SAVES: Glass (516)
- GAA: Gerber (2.69)
- SAVE PERCENTAGE: Gerber (.918)
REEBOK/AHL PLAYER OF THE WEEK NOMINEE: Center Peter Regin was this week’s nominee for the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week. Regin registered one assist in all three B-Sens games against Norfolk this past week and in the process extended his assist streak to five games (0+5).
B-SENS PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
- Tuesday, Feb. 24 11:15 a.m. @ Broome Community College Ice Center
- Wednesday, Feb. 25 10 a.m. game-day skate @ BCVMA
- Thursday, Feb. 26 10:30 a.m. @ BCVMA
- Friday, Feb 27 10 a.m. game-day skate @ BCVMA
- Saturday, Feb. 28 10 a.m. game-day skate @ BCVMA
*All practice times and locations subject to change without notice*
B-SENS PROMOTIONAL UPDATE: Veggie Tales will not appear at the B-Sens home game against Hershey on Friday, Feb. 27 due to logistical and scheduling conflicts.
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 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.
