Sens vs. Penguins 4/23/05 Articles: Stephens scores twice as Sens go up 2-0....
April 23, 2005

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Binghamton Senators.com

STEPHENS SCORES TWICE AS SENS GO UP 2-0 IN EAST DIVISION SEMIFINAL

The Binghamton Senators extended their East Division Semifinal lead to 2 games to none on Saturday night with a 4-2 victory against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before a sold out crowd at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

Binghamton jumped out early once again when Charlie Stephens picked up his second tally is as many nights after just 1:44 of play. Tough guy Brian McGrattan and defenseman Jan Platil each picked up an assist on Stephen’s second playoff goal.

After having a goal called off at the 6:40 mark of the second period, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was able to find a hole on goaltender Ray Emery and tie the game 1-1 with a power-play goal 10:50 into the period. Kris Beech picked up the tally with the lone assist going to Erik Christensen.

Chris Neil gave the Sens a 2-1 lead only 49 seconds after the drop of the puck for the third stanza. Josh Langfeld and Antoine Vermette were credited with the assists.

Stephen’s second goal of the game, coming 5:06 into the third period, gave the Sens the 3-1 advantage and would hold up to be the game winner. McGrattan picked up his second assist of the evening on the goal.

Rookie Brandon Bochenski’s first post-season goal gave the Sens a three-goal cushion and made the score 4-1 with less than eight minutes remaining third frame. Chris Kelly and Jason Spezza recorded assists on the goal.

The Penguin’s Erik Christensen picked up his second point of the night with a goal coming at the 13:06 mark of the third. Matt Hussey and Ryan Whitney were credited with the assists.

The Sens held off Wilkes-Barre for the remainder of the game to take the victory 4-2 and give themselves a 2-0 lead in the series.

Ray Emery was once again outstanding in net for Binghamton and turned away 29 of 31 shots in the win. Andy Chiodo was given the nod in favor of Marc-Andre Fleury for the Penguins and made 24 saves on 28 shots while suffering the loss.

Binghamton was 0 for 3 on the power play while Wilkes-Barre was 1 for 3.

The Sens head south down interstate 81on Monday for a 7:05 p.m. Game 3 face off. You can catch all of the action beginning at 6:35 p.m. on 680-AM WINR with Grady Whittenburg.