Sens vs. Sound Tigers 2/17/05 Articles: B-Sens listless in loss; Paddock: Effort was 'pathetic'
February 18, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Scott Lauber of Press Connects.com

B-Sens listless in loss

Paddock: Effort was 'pathetic'

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- Fresh off arguably the darkest day in NHL history, fans were reminded Thursday night of how lucky they are to have an active, functioning hockey team to watch right here in this city.

But if the Binghamton Senators have many more games like this, fans will wish the AHL had shut down, too.

In an effort co-coach John Paddock called "pretty pathetic," the Senators returned from the three-day all-star break and laid a goose egg in their lone February home game, losing 4-0 to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers and former BC Icemen goalie Dieter Kochan.

The Senators' lackluster performance got them showered with boos by 4,496 in the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

"We have no excuses," defenseman Andy Hedlund said after the Senators surrendered four second-period goals and Kochan, who once had plenty of nights like this in this building, turned away 45 shots. "There's absolutely no reason why we shouldn't have been ready to play. The coaches were nice, giving us three days off. We didn't show up."

At least not in the second period. The Senators peppered Kochan with 15 shots in the opening 20 minutes, and even after falling behind 2-0 by the 13:03 mark of the second, Paddock thought they still had a chance to win the game.

Antoine Vermette, responding after Bridgeport center Justin Mapletoft throttled defenseman Jesse Fibiger with a check along the boards in the defensive zone, retaliated by taking an elbowing penalty and received two more minutes after a scuffle with Sound Tigers enforcer Eric Godard.

"I really thought we were going to win the game when Vermette got the two penalties," Paddock said. "I didn't think we had any emotion until then. But that gave us some emotion, and the crowd got into it. I thought we had a chance."

Instead, the Sound Tigers' 20th-ranked power play scored twice in 44 seconds to create a four-goal bulge. Rob Collins scored off a faceoff win by Justin Papineau at 16:37, and Ryan Caldwell's point shot at 17:21 found its way through the legs of goalie Ray Emery, who was lifted before the third period.

Late in the second, the Senators' coaches tried to resuscitate their failing club by nailing Mapletoft with an illegal stick after Bridgeport's Sean Bergenheim took a holding penalty. But Kochan was sharp on a two-minute, five-on-three power play to all but decide the game.

"That was a big kill for us," Kochan said. "We're up 4-0 and you don't want to give them any life. In this league, you never know what's going to happen."

Kochan was out of this league from 1998-2000 when he starred for the Icemen of the United Hockey League. He was promoted directly to the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning in 2000, and for the past two seasons, has been toiling for Bridgeport, the New York Islanders' AHL club.

After earning his third shutout of the season -- two more than the combined total of Senators goalies Emery and Billy Thompson -- he got a warm ovation as the game's No. 1 star.

"It was nice to play a good game here and to get a little bit of an ovation from fans who may remember me," Kochan said.

Said Senators center Jason Spezza, "You have to give (Kochan) credit. We had some chances that we didn't capitalize on, but he made some good saves."

The Sound Tigers took great measures to get their most favorable matchup against Spezza, the AHL's leading scorer.

Last Friday night in Bridgeport, they had the benefit of the last change, so it was easier to get defensemen Jody Robinson and Richard Seeley on the ice whenever Spezza stepped over the boards. With the Senators changing last, Sound Tigers coach Greg Cronin had to shuffle the order of his lines to pit Robinson and Seeley against Spezza.

Oddly, it was with the Sound Tigers' top defensemen on the bench that Bridgeport snapped a scoreless stalemate 10:22 into the second period. Bruno Gervais forced a Spezza giveaway, and after Cole Jarrett flipped the puck toward the net, Jim Campbell shoved it underneath Emery.

"You're crazy if you're not aware when he's out there," Kochan said. "Our 'D' did a great job. You've definitely got to respect that team."

Even on a night like this.

"We had a couple of things we got right," Paddock said, "but it was a pretty pathetic effort. We just weren't sharp."