Sens vs. Phantoms 3/19/05 Articles: Hamel scores in Overtime to keep Sens atop of East Division
March 19, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Binghamton Senators.com

HAMEL SCORES IN OVERTIME TO KEEP SENS ON TOP OF EAST DIVISION

The Senators picked up two crucial points in the East Division standings on Saturday night with a 4-3 overtime win against the Philadelphia Phantoms before a second straight sell out crowd of 4,710 at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

For the third straight game, Binghamton fell behind by a score of 2-0 in the first period, thanks to goals by Jon Sim and Tony Voce at 7:58 and 18:53 of the opening frame.

Binghamton began the rally with its first goal of the game coming off the stick of Josh Langfeld. Langfeld’s power-play tally, coming 5:38 into the second period, was his 24th goal of the season and was assisted by Antoine Vermette and Chris Kelly.

The Sens tied the game 2-2 less than a minute into the third period when rookie Brandon Bochenski picked up his 27th goal of the season at the :57 mark. Christoph Schubert and Jason Spezza picked up assists on the tying goal.

Binghamton then took the lead 3-2 with Antoine Vermette’s 24th tally of the year coming 13:12 into the third period.

The Phantoms were able to tie the game 3-3 and force overtime as Jon Sim recorded his second goal of the night at the 16:23 point in third period. Joni Pitkanen and R.J. Umberger picked up the two assists.

Binghamton sealed the win and the extra point when Denis Hamel recorded his team leading 32nd goal of the season with just 1:04 left on the clock in the overtime period.

Ray Emery picked up the win for the Sens making 27 saves on 30 shots in the process. Antero Nittymaki stopped 39 of 43 shots in the loss for Philadelphia.

Binghamton closed out the contest 1 for 5 on the power play while the Phantoms were 0 for 2 with the extra man.

The win gave Binghamton two points and they now stand two points ahead of the Phantoms for the East Division crown. The teams will meet again in Binghamton on Wednesday, March 30th.

The Sens return to the ice one week from tonight as they travel south to Norfolk, Virginia for a 7:30 p.m. face-off with the Admirals. Coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. with Countdown to Face-Off on WINR 680-AM.