Sens vs. Crunch 2/26/04 Articles: Crunch jumps on B-Sens early; Spotty play proves costly
March 27, 2004

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

Crunch jumps on B-Sens early

Spotty play proves costly

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

SYRACUSE -- It is officially Crunch time for the Binghamton Senators, which is why the first half of games like Friday night's here against the Syracuse Crunch are so startling.

The Senators are locked in a four-team battle for three playoff spots, but you never would have known by the way they played in the opening 24 minutes.

They made mistake after mistake and spotted Syracuse four goals in a 6-3 loss that put a serious crimp in reaching their stated goal of finishing third in the AHL's East Division.

"We made some horrendous decisions and executions," B-Sens coach John Paddock said. "It was mind-boggling how we were playing without any thought behind it."

In other words, the Senators picked up right where they left off Wednesday night when they gave up four third-period goals in the Manitoba Massacre, a 4-1 loss to the Moose on home ice.

They mounted a valiant comeback and were within one goal early in the third period before Mark Hartigan's marker at 12:06 and Brad Moran's empty-netter iced it. But the Senators' first-period collapse was too much to overcome against a Crunch club that has qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs and has its sights set on first place in the North Division.

"We're in a spot where we need points," Senators defenseman Andy Hedlund said, "and playing good for 30 minutes doesn't get you points."

By the grace of the Norfolk Admirals turning a 3-0 lead into a 5-3 defeat to Manchester, the Senators didn't lose ground for that last playoff spot. They stayed tied with the Admirals in fourth place with the teams to meet twice next weekend in Norfolk.

But with just seven games remaining, the Senators fell five points behind Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, a 4-2 winner over Hershey, in a third-place race that's shaping up to be a rout.

"There are no excuses for how we played," B-Sens center Serge Payer said. "These games are important enough as it is. We've got to be ready."

With their captain, Chris Kelly, ready to play for the first time since Feb. 14 when he broke his left kneecap, the Senators figured to get a boost.

Instead, they were caught napping 21 seconds into the game when Moran got open behind the defense and fluttered a shot from the right circle over goalie Ray Emery's blocker.

From there, it only got worse.

With defenseman Peter Smrek serving a penalty, Syracuse winger Kent McDonnell scored off his blocked shot at 12:40, and winger Donald MacLean's shot deflected off a stick, hit Emery's left shoulder and rolled down his back and into the net on a four-on-three power play at 17:30.

"We even talked about the fact that we haven't had good starts against them," Hedlund said. "We made small mistakes, and they have a knack of capitalizing on mistakes."

Paddock considered pulling Emery to spark his club as the second period dawned, especially with red-hot rookie Billy Thompson in reserve. But he stuck with Emery, his two-time AHL all-star, and Crunch winger Joe Motzko stuck a loose puck in the net 3:51 into the second to drop the Senators down a 4-0 abyss.

The situation now desperate, all-star defenseman Julien Vauclair ventured deep into the offensive zone and scored twice in a 2:17 span of the second, and defenseman Steve Bancroft's marker at 1:28 of the third made it 4-3.

But more shoddy defensive-zone coverage left Hartigan alone below the left circle to blast a feed from Motzko past Emery to bury the Senators for good.

"They didn't beat us; we beat ourselves," Payer said. "We showed a lot more passion (after falling behind 4-0), but we've got to play for three periods that way."

* Slap shots: Kelly's return coincided with the absences of defenseman John Jakopin (groin) and rugged winger Brian McGrattan (concussion). Jakopin is probable for tonight's home game against Philadelphia. ... Rookie defenseman Jan Platil's second-period fight with Crunch winger Jeremy Reich was a byproduct of Platil's pre-game slash of Reich on Feb. 13 that earned Platil a two-game AHL suspension. ... Senators wives and girlfriends will be selling pucks autographed by each member of the team for $10 tonight. Proceeds from the sale will benefit the Serge Payer Foundation, which raises money for research and treatment of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a disease in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. Payer overcame the illness in 1999.