B-Sens weekly

March 7, 2005 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Binghamton Senators News Release


LAST WEEK: Binghamton reclaimed first place in the East Division with victories against Norfolk and Albany on Friday and Saturday respectively. The Senators now have 75 points and are tied for the top spot in the East Divison.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2ND vs. NORFOLK (2-3 OTL): Norfolk went ahead 2-0 on power-play goals from JAMES WISNIEWSKI and RENE BOURQUE in the second period. But the Senators would rally in the third period starting with GREG WATSON'S third goal of the season at 7:05. Winger CHRIS NEIL, playing in his first game with the B-Sens, had an assist on the play. DENIS HAMEL scored just three minutes later to tie the game and give Binghamton a point in the standings. Ninety-seven seconds into overtime ERIC NICKULAS put a goal past RAY EMERY giving Norfolk a 3-2 victory. RAY EMERY made 21 saves on 24 shots while MICHAEL LEIGHTON blocked 18 of 20 Binghamton chances to earn the win. Binghamton was 0 for 3 on the power play. Norfolk scored in 2 of 7 chances.

FRIDAY, MARCH 4TH vs. NORFOLK (2-0 W): BILLY THOMPSON stopped all 31 Admirals' shots for his first shutout victory of the season. The Sens peppered Norfolk goalie MICHAEL LEIGHTON with 21 shots in the first period, but he was up to the task and stopped each one of them. Defenseman CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT ripped a shot past LEIGHTON at 8:45 of the third period to break a scoreless tie. Then ANTOINE VERMETTE gave Binghamton an insurance goal with a little more than five minutes remaining. JOSH LANGFELD and DENIS HAMEL were credited with the assists on VERMETTE'S 17th goal of the season. LEIGHTON stopped 45 of 47 Binghamton shots but it was not enough as he lost his second game of the season to the Senators and his 16th overall.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5TH vs. ALBANY (5-2 W): A sell out crowd of 4,710 filled the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena and were treated to a 5-2 Senators win that enabled the team to share the lead in the East Division standings. Binghamton reeled off four straight goals in first 17 minutes and 43 seconds of the game and took a franchise record 28 shots in the first period. The defenseman got Binghamton rolling early with goals by BRIAN POTHIER and ANTON VOLCHENKOV in the first five minutes of the game. CHRIS KELLY then scored back-to-back goals at 13:33 and 17:43 of the first. ALEKSANDRE SUGLOBOV scored late in the first and winger TUOMAS PIHLMAN scored early in the second to pull Albany within striking distance of the Sens. But CHRISTOPH SCHUBERT scored for the second straight game at 7:08 of the second period and the Senators cruised to a 5-2 victory. JASON SPEZZA assisted on Schubert's goal giving him four assists in the game. BILLY THOMPSON stopped 23 of 25 shots in winning his fourth straight contest. ARI AHONEN made 42 saves on 47 shots but lost to the Sens for the fifth time in eight games this season.

THIS WEEK: The Senators travel to Rochester this week for a pair of games against the Americans at Blue Cross Arena. The Amerks have won 17 straight games on home ice – only two victories from tying the AHL record for consecutive wins on home ice. Binghamton concludes their four-game road trip with a game on Saturday at Albany and on Sunday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9TH @ ROCHESTER (7:05 p.m.): Rochester last lost a game on home ice on December 11 against Hamilton. The Bulldogs won 3-2 in a shootout that night. Binghamton will be looking to halt the winning streak at 17 games when they visit Wednesday night. Former Amerk DENIS HAMEL has eight points (2g, 6a) in five games to lead the Sens. THOMAS VANEK has eight points (3g, 5a) in five games for Rochester. Defenseman DOUG JANIK leads all skaters with a +6 rating. Goalies RAY EMERY and BILLY THOMPSON have matching 3.32 goals-against averages against the Amerks. EMERY is 1-2-0 in three starts while THOMPSON is 1-1-0 in two starts. The Sens are one of the few teams to give Amerks goalie RYAN MILLER trouble this season. In four starts MILLER is 2-2-0 with a 3.54 goals-against average and a .891 save percentage.

FRIDAY, MARCH 11TH @ ROCHESTER (7:35 p.m.): The game is Binghamton's last of four in Rochester this regular season.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12TH @ ALBANY (7:30 p.m.): Binghamton will play their final game against Albany this season on Friday evening. The Sens are 5-2-1-1 in the series and 2-1-1-0 at the Pepsi Arena. Binghamton has won three straight against the River Rats outscoring them 17 to 5 during the stretch. JASON SPEZZA leads all skaters in the series with 13 points (4g, 9a) in nine games. ALEKSANDRE SUGLOBOV has nine points (6g, 3a) in nine games.

The teams are facing one another for the second consecutive Saturday. Last Saturday the Sens won 5-2 and peppered ARI AHONEN with 28 shots in the first period – a franchise record. SPEZZA had four assists in the game.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13TH @ WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON (5:05 p.m.): The Sens and Penguins will face one another for the first time since Jan. 14th when Binghamton won 4-3 in overtime on a JESSE FIBIGER goal. It was Binghamton's third overtime victory against the Penguins this season. The Sens last visited Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza on November 20 when they won 5-4 on a DENIS HAMEL overtime goal. JASON SPEZZA leads the series in scoring with 10 points (3g, 7a) in five games. Winger RAMZI ABID has five points (3g, 2a) in five games for the Penguins. RAY EMERY has a 2-1-0 record and a 1.97 goals-against average in three games. MARC-ANDRE FLEURY has a 1-2-0 record with a 2.63 goals against average in three starts. Binghamton's power play has converted on 7 of 28 chances (25%) in the series.

SENS SNIPPETS: The Sens will play four games away from home this week. It is the first time since the first week of December and the only other time this season that Binghamton will play four road games in a single week...JASON SPEZZA had four assists in a game for the second time this season on Saturday against Albany. He also had four assists on Feb. 19th at Manchester...The Sens won their 20th home game of the season on Saturday. Binghamton has nine more home contests to break the franchise record of 26 home wins established in the 2002-03 season...The Sens are one win away from tying last seasons win total of 34 and 10 away from tying the franchise record of 43 set in 2002-03....Binghamton had back-to-back sellout on Friday and Saturday. It was the first time this season the Sens had sold out consecutive games in the same weekend...The Sens have picked up points in six straight games (5-0-1-0) since a 4-0 loss to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Feb. 17th...Binghamton has four wins in a row on the road and has picked up points in six straight road games (4-0-1-1) beginning with a 4-3 overtime loss in Hershey on Feb. 5th...

SENS IN THE COMMUNITY: No appearances scheduled.

PRACTICE & GAME SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 7TH (SUBJECT TO CHANGE):

Monday, March 7 10 a.m. Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

Tuesday, March 8 10 a.m. Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

Wednesday, March 9 10 a.m. (Pre-game skate) Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena

7:05 p.m. Binghamton @ Rochester

Thursday, March 10 TBD Blue Cross Arena

Friday, March 11 11:15 a.m. (Pre-game skate) Blue Cross Arena

7:35 p.m. Binghamton @ Rochester

Saturday, March 12 11:15 a.m. (Pre-game skate) Pepsi Arena

7:30 p.m. Binghamton @ Albany

Sunday, March 13 5:05 p.m. Wachovia Arena at Casey Plaza

Binghamton @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

SENS LEADERS: POINTS: JASON SPEZZA – 85 GOALS: DENIS HAMEL – 30

ASSISTS: JASON SPEZZA – 60 PPG: DENIS HAMEL – 14

GWG: BRANDON BOCHEKSI – 6

SHG: JASON SPEZZA, CHRIS KELLY & JOSH LANGFELD - 3

PIM: BRIAN McGRATTAN – 428

WINS: RAY EMERY – 17 GAA: BILLY THOMPSON – 2.39

B-SENS ON THE AIR: All Binghamton Senators games are broadcast live on 680-WINR, a Clear Channel station. Fans can also access the broadcasts online at www.binghamtonsenators.com. Tune in 30 minutes prior to faceoff for Countdown to Faceoff with the voice of the Binghamton Senators, Grady Whittenburg.

GET YOUR TICKETS: Tickets remain on sale for each of the B-Sens remaining regular season home games. Tickets are $15 for the sides and $14 for the ends. Fans can purchase tickets at the following locations: Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena box office (Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Saturday, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m.), Binghamton Senators executive office, third floor of the arena (Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. and on game days until the end of the second period.), www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (607) 722-SENS.



American Hockey League Stories from March 7, 2005


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