Sens vs. Penguins 4/25/05 Articles: B-Sens fall in 3 OTs; Binghamton loses longest game in its AHL history
April 27, 2005

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

B-Sens fall in 3 OTs

Binghamton loses longest game in its AHL history

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- There will be no sweep.

It took six periods -- 112 minutes and 26 seconds, to be exact -- but a patchwork crew of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins finally beat the Binghamton Senators here in the final seconds of Monday night and have climbed back into the best-of-seven East Division semifinals.

The longest game in Binghamton's 23-year AHL history, a 3-2 Penguins victory, ended at 11:59 p.m. at 12:26 of the third overtime when Colby Armstrong completed a two-on-one with Eric Christensen for his first goal of the series and the fourth playoff goal of his AHL career.

"All this does is guarantee there's a Game 5 (Friday night in Binghamton)," Senators co-coach John Paddock said after the ninth-longest game in AHL history was finally over.

The Senators, who had won nine straight games against the Penguins and eight straight overall, stormed out of the visitor's dressing room here to board the bus for home. They still lead the best-of-seven series 2-1, and Game 4 will be played here Wednesday night.

Many in the announced crowd of 6,159 stayed to see Armstrong's heroics. After he beat goalie Ray Emery (46 saves), they stood, waving white pom-poms, and chanted "An-dy, An-dy" for Penguins goalie Andy Chiodo, who finished with 42 saves after being lambasted by coach Michel Therrien after Game 2.

Senators defenseman Christoph Schubert scored the Senators' goals, including the game-tying tally with 4:49 left in the second period, but center Jason Spezza went without a point for the first time in 23 games.

"They're going to put a different spin on it," Paddock said, "but momentum is only what you allow it to be. There's only something to that if you allow it to happen."

The game grew more grueling into the second OT, by which time the teams had surpassed by 11 minutes the April 9, 1988, marathon between the Whalers and Hershey Bears.

Volchenkov didn't miss a shift. Even with a 2-0 lead in the series, the game was too important for nursing wounds.

After missing the first two games, Ottawa general manager John Muckler dropped in and watched almost the equivalent of two more. Any player who didn't start the game with a play off beard had the makings of one by the time it ended.

In a game so endless and with fatigue becoming so rampant, costly mistakes often become more common. But the Senators and Penguins played remarkably error-free during the overtimes and had combined for only 78 shots through five periods and 23 in the first two overtimes.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien took a shot at both of his goalies after Game 2 -- "As long as we don't get any goaltending, we're not going to win," he said -- but came back with fan-favorite Andy Chiodo, who received a thunderous ovation from a pompom-waving crowd of 6,159 that watched him carry the Penguins to the Calder Cup finals last spring.

But it took the patchwork Penguins, playing without three regulars, almost seven minutes to land a puck on net, and when Schubert's shot through a screen beat their hero on a power play with 9:04 gone, it became difficult for the fans to sustain that noise.

Alexandre Rouleau, a defenseman who spent the entire season with Wheeling in the ECHL, tried to stir them up by fighting Chris Neil at 15:41, but it wasn't until early in the second period that the building became loud again.

With Senators defenseman Jan Platil serving a holding penalty, Chris Kelleher kept the puck in at the point and fed Michel Ouellet for a long shot that was deflected behind Ray Emery by Shane Endicott 3:30 into the second.

Referee Dave Hansen put the Penguins down two skaters in the next minute, whistling Guillaume Lefebvre for slashing at 3:42 and Colby Armstrong for hooking at 4:20. But the Senators' vaunted, league-leading power play failed them, getting only two shots through to Chiodo on an 82-second five-on-three.

As the second penalty expired, Chiodo made a blocker save to rob Jason Spezza, his close friend from their days growing up in suburban Toronto, and with the Senators shorthanded three minutes later, he stopped Josh Langfeld on a two-on-one with Antoine Vermette.

Langfeld and Vermette were caught behind the play as Eric Christensen led the rush and began a play that set up Kris Beech for a power-play goal at 10:27 that gave the Penguins their first lead of the series.

That lead lasted only 4:44, as Schubert drove through the middle, beat three defenders and slid a shot behind Chiodo with 4:49 left in the second period.