Sens vs. Crunch 3/26/04 Preview: Show down at the War Memorial between the Sens and the Crunch
March 26, 2004

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Binghamton Hockey.net

The Binghamton Senators travel north to the War Memorial at Oncenter in Syracuse, New York to face the Syracuse Crunch in the final game in the season series between the two hockey teams. The Crunch lead the season series recording four wins over the Senators, losing only twice and tie-ing only once with the Senators in the 0-0 tie on February 18th in Syracuse. The Senators are 0-2-1-0 in the War Memorial; while the two teams has scored two wins each in the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

The big story for all teams at this point in the season is the race to the playoffs and securing one of the five-playoff positions in each division. Though the Crunch (33-20-10-6 82 points) are essentially in the playoffs with their second place standings in the North division only four points behind division leader Hamilton (36-22-10-4 86 points), the Crunch are only five points a head of three teams. Toronto, Cleveland and Rochester all stand at 77 points and unless the Crunch come apart in their last 11 games, these three teams will battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th place in the North division. The Senators (32-31-7-2 73 points) are tied with Norfolk (32-30-4-5 73 points) with 73 points and only sit one point above sixth place Hershey (30-29-8-4 72 points). Norfolk has played one less game then the Senators and has also lost one less game, which at this point only works to the Admirals favor in a tie-breaking situation. Norfolk hosts Manchester tonight in the Scope while Hershey travels to Wilkes-Barre for an East divisional match-up vs. the 3rd place Penguins.

The New York version of "Battle of Interstate 81" last resumed February 18th in a game that pitted an AHL All Star top prospect goalie in Ray Emery vs. a 9 year NHL Veteran goalie, Fred Brathwaite. Neither goalie disappointed the fans as both brought their A game to War Memorial in Syracuse on that night. A 0-0 tie does not happen often and when two teams have goalies that perform like the Crunch and the Senators had that night, it makes you wonder why a 0-0 tie does not happen more often. Brathwaite was hammered for 36 shots on goal by the Senators but was flawless on night like his counterpart for the Senators; Emery who stopped all 27 shots sent his way by the Crunch. Crunch enforcer Brandon Sugden challenged NHL Veteran enforcer, Rob Ray, working a conditioning stint for the Senators in Binghamton, as the two supplied the fans with the only fight of the night and/or excitement during the 0-0 goalie battle. The three stars of the night went to Brandon Sugden for his win over Ray in the games only fight, Ray Emery for his 65-minute 27 saves shutout and the number one star of the game went to Crunch goalie Fred Brathwaite for his 65-minute 36 saves shutout vs. the Senators.

In their last six games the Senators are 3-2-1 with the three wins coming against Bridgeport (3-1) at home last Saturday and vs. Albany twice (5-4 OT, 5-4). The Senators lost to in the six game stretch vs. Manitoba this past Wednesday at the Arena and two weeks ago today vs. Rochester (5-3). The only tie happened on March 13th in Wilkes-Barre as the Senators held at one point a 4-1 lead only to allow Wilkes-Barre (4-4) to tie the game with neither team being able to pull out the win in over time.

The Crunch has won 4 out of their last six games as they fight to catch North division leaders, Hamilton. The four games they have won have come against St. John's (5-3), Rochester (3-1), St. John's (5-3) and Albany (5-2). The two losses have been vs. Toronto (4-1) and to Manitoba (5-4) in Syracuse last Friday.

After playing the Crunch tonight the Senators only have seven games remaining on their schedule. They will return home tomorrow to face the Philadelphia Phantoms in the Phantoms last appearance at the Arena. After five days off the Senators will embark on a 3 game, 3 night road trip that will have the Senators playing two games in Scope in Norfolk, Virginia next Friday/Saturday and then completed the 3 game in 3 night series with their final regular season visit to the Wachovia Spectrum to face the Philadelphia Phantoms for the last time. The Senators will then travel to Wilkes-Barre to face the Penguins on April 7th before finishing the season at home on April 9th and 10th vs. the Norfolk Admirals and the Rochester Americans.

The Crunch will remain home for a game tomorrow vs. St. John's before heading to Cleveland to face the Barons. The Barons will then return the favor next Wednesday when they come to the War Memorial to face the Crunch. Syracuse will then battle Rochester twice in two nights as the teams will battle in both the War Memorial and the Blue Cross Arena.

Denis Hamel leads the Senators in all three categories with 63 (28+35) points. Ray Emery (20-20-5) will likely be Coach John Paddock's choice as goal tender for the Senators as Binghamton battles for a playoff spot in the East. Emery has 2.52 goals against average and a .921 save percentage on the season. Back up, Billy Thompson has a record of 12-13-2 with 2 shut outs on the season. Thompson has a 2.95 goals against average and a .904 save percentage playing in 31 games in his rookie season.

Crunch center, Donald MacLean leads the team with 63 (23+39) while playing in all 69 games for Syracuse this year. Pascal Leclaire (19-13-3) & Karl Goehring (14-11-6) have goal tended in all but three games for the Crunch. Leclaire boasts a 2.94 goals against average while saving 92 % of the shots he has faced in 39 games. In 31 games for the Crunch, Goehring has saved 92.5 % of the shots that he has faced earning a 2.39 goals against average.

Misc. #'s
Powerplay - Syr 4th (60) - Bin T7th (56)
Penalty Killing - Syr T20th (55) - Bin 19th (54)
Points - Syr, MacLean T8th (62) - Bin, Hamel T5th (63)
Goals - Syr, Maclean T18th (23) - Bin, Hamel T7th (28)

After tonight's Senators/Crunch game come back to Binghamton Hockey.net for an updated East Division standings and a Senators/Crunch boxscore and articles about the game.

Plus if you haven't all ready, go over and join the chat in Binghamton Hockey.net's message boards, Bingo Talk. Even if you’re a fan of another team, your welcome to join the chat about American League Hockey, the NHL, the Binghamton Senators or anything you want.

Remember, Binghamton Hockey.net is your only complete Hockey source for the Binghamton Senators or Binghamton Hockey. Read articles from the Sens website, the Press & Sun plus any other Binghamton Hockey article posted on the web, right here on Binghamton Hockey.net.