Sens vs. Admirals 1/17/04 Articles: Sens Sink the Admirals 5-3
January 18, 2004

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Binghamton Senators.com

Sens Sink the Admirals 5-3

January 17, 2004

Denis Hamel notched his third three-point night of the season to lead the Binghamton Senators to a 5-3 win over the Norfolk Admirals Saturday night in front of 4,587 fans at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

The win lifted the Sens into sole possession of fifth place (42 points) in the East Division with five games still in hand on the Admirals (40 points – sixth place).

Hamel’s first goal of the night sparked a three-goal second period when ripped a shot past Michael Leighton (21 saves) 2:14 into the middle period to put Binghamton up 3-1.

Matt Ellison drove the net on the right wing side and buried a shot past Billy Thompson to draw the Admirals to within one goal at 3-2 at the 6:18 mark of the second period.

The Sens would see their lead bumped to two goals on a controversial score credited to Alexandre Giroux which would prove to be the game winner.

After a scramble in front of the Norfolk cage, Giroux ended up with a rebound on the backhand and attempted to slide a shot underneath Leighton.

Giroux appeared to have Leighton beaten, the red light came on, but played continued for several seconds before referee Tom Kowal stopped play as the Sens protested.

After a conference with one linesman that yielded no conclusion, Kowal consulted with the goal judge. After a brief conversation, Kowal awarded Binghamton with the goal at 9:26 to make it 4-2.

The celebration was short lived as just 17 seconds later, Quintin Lang fed a wide open Ajay Baines cutting down the slot. Baines sent a wrister past Thompson to draw Norfolk to within one at 4-3, but that would be as close as the Ads would get the rest of the way.

Hamel collected his second point of the night moments after failing to score as he drove down the left wing.

Controlling the puck behind the enemy net, Hamel sent a quick pass into the left circle where Chris Kelly one-timed it past Leighton for a 5-3 lead with 2:28 to go in the period.

After the teams combined for five, second period strikes, the third period was uneventful until Hamel closed out the evening with 11 seconds left.

With Leighton on the bench and Norfolk needing a pair of goals to force overtime, Hamel dashed any comeback thoughts with his empty-netter to make the final reading 6-3.

Giroux and Kelly (a goal and an assist each), along with Brooks Laich and Arpad Mihaly (two assists each), complimented Hamel’s effort with multi-point efforts to lead the Sens to their second straight win.

Norfolk outshot Binghamton 29-27 and went 0x3 on the power play. The Sens scored once in five power play chances.

Binghamton next hits the ice when it closes a stretch of four games in five and a half days as the club tangles with the Providence Bruins in a 1:05 p.m. faceoff on Martin Luther King Day Monday in Rhode Island.