Sports stats



B-Sens Weekly

January 2, 2014 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Binghamton Senators News Release


LAST WEEK...

Thursday, Dec. 26: Hershey 1, Binghamton 4

Shots: Hershey 33, Binghamton 30

PP: Hershey 1 for 6, Binghamton 1 for 2

Binghamton hosted East Division rival Hershey in their annual post-Christmas game beating the visitors 4-1. Cole Schneider turned in a four point night notching two goals and two assists to lead the B-Sens offensively. Nathan Lawson played stellar between the pipes all night allowing just one goal on 33 shots faced to earn his tenth victory for the year.

Hershey struck first at the 16:12 mark of the opening period on Nicolas Deschamps' team leading ninth goal of the season. The power-play strike was the lone goal scored in the opening 20 minutes.

Binghamton tied the contest at one apiece 6:24 of the middle frame when Stephane Da Costa knocked home a rebound from a Schneider shot beating the Bear's David Leggio. The B-Sens offense continued to click and managed to take its first lead of the night with less than two minutes to play in the second. Jim O'Brien wristed a shot from the point where Schneider was waiting to put home the easy rebound sending Binghamton to the locker room up 2-1.

Da Costa added his second tally of the night just short of the midway point in the third period and Schneider converted on an empty-net with one second remaining to move the final score to 4-1. Da Costa finished with two goals for the night while O'Brien and Fredrick Claesson ended the night with two helpers apiece.

Friday, Dec. 27: Binghamton 4, Utica 3

Shots: Binghamton 34, Utica 33

PP: Binghamton 3 for 7, Utica 1 for 8

Binghamton continued their winning ways Friday night in Utica with a 4-3 win over the Comets. Mike Hoffman wristed home a power-play goal with less than 30 seconds remaining in regulation to break the 3-3 tie and give the Senators its fourth consecutive win. Lawson had another spectacular outing stopping 30 of 33 shots faced to earn the victory.

Utica drew first blood at the 4:12 of the opening period when David Archibald beat Lawson to give the hosts the early 1-0 lead. Less than four minutes later, Binghamton tied things up at one apiece when Matt Puempel put home his first of two goals for the night. With the B-Sens working its power play, Derek Grant found Puempel open in the slot who lifted the puck over Comets goaltender Joe Cannata. The teams went to the locker rooms knotted 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.

The Comets needed only 1:26 to regain the lead in the second period when Alexandre Grenier notched his first of two goals for the night. However, less than one minute later Puempel's second goal of the night evened the scoreboard back up. The B-Sens power-play unit gave the first lead of the night at 14:42 of the period when Mark Stone converted the man advantage making it 3-2. Once again the game became tied heading into the final intermission after Grenier notched his second of the night on during a power play at 15:22.

The final period brought scoring chances for either team, but both teams came up empty until there was under a minute to play. Working the two man advantage after interference and high-sticking calls against the Comets, Hoffman was able to drive home the game-winner with just 28 seconds remaining.

Binghamton finished three for seven on the man advantage while managing to kill off seven of eight power-play chances for Utica. Puempel finished with two goals off two shots on goal to lead the B-Sens past Utica for the first time this year.

Tuesday, Dec. 31: Norfolk 2, Binghamton 3

Shots: Norfolk 38, Binghamton 23

PP: Binghamton 3 for 7, Utica 1 for 8

Binghamton pushed their win streak to five consecutive games with a 3-2 victory over the visiting Norfolk Admirals in front of a crowd of over 4,500 fans New Year's Eve. Lawson played outstanding in his third straight start in net stopping 36 of 38 shots faced to keep the Sens win streak alive.

The B-Sens managed just two shots on goal to the visitors 10 during the first 20 minutes of play, but Lawson turned aside all Comets shots to keep the teams at 0-0 through one period of play.

Rickard Rakell gave the Admirals the lead just over two minutes into the middle frame off a feed from Emerson Etem. However, Binghamton responded just 45 seconds later when Puempel managed to beat Admirals' goaltender John Gibson to even the game at 1-1. Andre Petersson doubled the B-Sens lead just past the midway point of the period off feeds from Shane Prince and Jim O'Brien sending the home team up 2-1 heading into the final period of regulation.

O'Brien notched his fourth goal of the season at 10:54 in the third off a great look pass from Prince increasing Binghamton's lead to 3-1. Norfolk managed to make things interesting with less than a minute remaining when Etem pushed a loose puck past Lawson moving the Admirals to within one, but Lawson stone-walled a barrage of shots faced over the final 30 seconds preserving the win. Prince finished the night with two helpers for Binghamton while Lawson improved to 12-4-0 for the year.

Record: 19-9-0-3 (41 points)

Standings: Binghamton moved into sole possession of first place in the East Division following their second straight perfect weekend. Wilkes-Barre trails by one point while Norfolk sits in third place with a 16-12-1-4 record good for 37 points. Hershey's 31 points through 30 games played gives them fourth place while the Syracuse Crunch sit in last with a 13-14-1-3 record.

THIS WEEK...

Friday, January 3 vs. Manchester Monarchs (Los Angeles Kings) - 7:05p.m.

The B-Sens will host the Manchester Monarchs the only time this season on Friday in a 7:05p.m. match up. Manchester currently holds the best record in the entire American Hockey League with a 22-8-1-4 record good for 49 points.

The Monarchs offense is led by center Jordan Weal who has registered eight goals and 19 assists through 35 games this season while right winger Brandon Kozun has eight goals and 17 assists over 34 games. Goaltender Jean-Francois Berube has appeared in 22 games between the pipes for Manchester compiling a 13-7-2 record with a 2.34 goals-against average.

Saturday, January 4 vs. Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) - 7:05p.m.

The B-Sens will welcome the Crunch to the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena this Saturday for the fifth and final time this season. Binghamton currently leads the 10-game season series 5-1. Syracuse sits in last place in the East Division with a 13-14-1-3 record.

Offensively the Crunch are led by Vladislav Namestnikov's 21 points (8 goals, 13 assists) and Cedric Paquette's 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists). Goaltender Cedrick Desjardins has appeared in 17 games for the Crunch this season going 5-8-2.

Sunday, January 5 @ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh Penguins) - 4:05p.m.

The B-Sens round out their busy four-game week with a road trip down Interstate-81 for a 4:05p.m. face off versus the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The Penguins currently trail Binghamton by one point for first place in the East Division.

The Penguins offense is led by Tom Kostopoulos who has compiled 12 goals and nine assists over 28 games this season. Goaltender Jeff Deslauriers leads all Wilkes-Barre/Scranton net minders with 22 appearances and a 13-7-2 record.

Promotions:

Friday night's game versus Manchester is presented by the Raymond Corporation. The first 1000 fans through the gates will receive a FREE TOTE BAG courtesy of Raymond.

Friday night is also a Price Chopper Night where fans that present their Price Chopper AdvantEdge Cards when purchasing their tickets will receive $4.00 off the ticket price (limit two tickets per card).

Also on Friday fans can take advantage of the Friday Two-Pack deal consisting of two tickets, two hotdogs and two sodas for just $32.00 (valid in sections 6-10).

Saturday night will be the B-Sens Annual Cub & Boy Scout Night as well as Elvis Night. Scouts from all over the Southern Tier will be in attendance when the Sens face off versus East Division rival the Syracuse Crunch. An Elvis impersonator will be on hand throughout the night providing entertainment as well as performing on the concourse during both first and second intermission.

SENS SNIPPETS...

Forward Cole Schneider has compiled five goals and four assists in six games since December 14 in Hershey. Schneider has compiled 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) in 27 games played this season while accumulating a plus-13 rating.

Through the past five games played, Center Stephane Da Costa has tallied six points (two goals, four assists).

Goaltender Nathan Lawson has won his last four starts in goal for Binghamton. Through 18 games this season Lawson has gone 12-4-0 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from January 2, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Binghamton Senators Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central