B-Sens Weekly Release: B-Sens win last 2 games; Sens vs. Pens this week
April 18, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Binghamton Senators.com

BINGHAMTON SENATORS WEEKLY

LAST WEEK: Binghamton won their sixth straight game beating Hershey 5-2 on Saturday to claim their second East Division title in three seasons.

FRIDAY, APRIL 15TH @ SYRACUSE (5-3 W): The Sens trailed 3-0 after the first period but scored four times in the second on their way to a 5-3 win. ANTON VOLCHENKOV scored first for the Sens only 18 seconds into the middle period. ANTOINE VERMETTE then closed the deficit to one with an unassisted goal before BRANDON BOCHENSKI scored a pair of power-play goals to put Binghamton in the lead. CHRIS KELLY scored the Senators lone third-period goal on the power play as Binghamton was 3 for 5 with the man advantage. Binghamton killed 4 of 5 Crunch power play chances. JASON SPEZZA had three assists in the game and goalie RAY EMERY made 25 saves on 28 shots. Crunch goalie ANDREW PENNER blocked 36 of 41 shots.

SATURDAY, APRIL 16TH vs. HERSHEY (5-2 W): After a scoreless first period the Senators tallied three goals in the second and cruised to a 5-2 win against the Hershey Bears on Saturday. The win gave Binghamton its second East Division title in three seasons. DENIS HAMEL led the way with his second hat trick of the season. Also scoring for Binghamton were defenseman ANDY HEDLUND and winger JOSH LANGFELD who scored his sixth short-handed goal. Goalie RAY EMERY won his seventh straight game tying the franchise record for consecutive wins set earlier in the season by BILLY THOMPSON. EMERY stopped 37 of 39 shots in the game. Binghamton was 1 for 4 on the power play while stopping all three Hershey chances.

SENS SNIPPETS: The Senators set several franchise records en route to their second division title in three seasons. Records broken include points (106; previous record 97 set in 2002-03), wins (47; previous record 43 in 2002-03), fewest losses (26; previous record 28 in 2002-03), most goals (276; previous record 239 in 2002-03), most penalty minutes in one season (2,382; previous record 2,015 in 2003-04) and longest winning streak (9 games from 1/7 – 1/26; previous record 7 games between 4/5 – 10/18/03) among others…. As a team the Senators earned points in 24 of their last 27 games going 20-3-1-3 during the stretch….Goalie RAY EMERY has won seven straight games and the Senators have earned points in each of his last 11 starts going 9-0-2. BILLY THOMPSON also won seven straight games between Dec. 19, 2004 and Jan. 23, 2005.

SPEZZA WINS THE JOHN B. SOLLENBERGER TROPHY: JASON SPEZZA won the 2004-05 John B. Sollenberger Trophy as the AHL’s leading scorer during the regular season. SPEZZA finished with 117 points (32 goals, 85 assists) finishing eight points ahead of Manchester’s MIKE CAMMALLERI. SPEZZA’S 85 assists are the second highest single season mark in league history. Only GEORGE SULLIVAN of Hershey had more with 89 during the 1953-54 season. SPEZZA finished the season on a 20-game scoring streak (7 goals, 29 assists) which is the longest in the AHL since RALPH INTRANUOVO scored in 20 straight for Cape Breton during the 1994-95 season.

EAST DIVISION SEMIFINALS SET: The Senators will face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the first time in the playoffs when the teams kick off a best-of-seven series in Binghamton on Friday evening. During the regular season the Senators held a 7-1-0-0 record and won the last seven meetings between the teams after losing the series opener 2-0 on Halloween Day.

JASON SPEZZA leads all scorers with 16 points (5 goals, 11 assists) in eight games. Left wing RAMZI ABID was the leading scorer for the Penguins with eight points (3 goals, 5 assists) in eight games. RAY EMERY played in six games against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and finished with a 5-1-0 record and a 1.82 goals-against average while his counterpart, MARC-ANDRE FLEURY, played five games against the Sens and had a 1-3-0 record with a 3.00 goals-against average. The winner of the series moves onto the East Division Finals where they will face either Norfolk or Philadelphia.

Tickets for first two games in Binghamton are now on sale and may be purchased at the Senators executive office on the third floor of the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena or at the Arena box office. The Sens office is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The box hours are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. Tickets may also be purchased by calling the Senators office at (607) 722-SENS, online at www.binghamtonsenators.com or at any other Ticketmaster outlet.