Sens vs. Phantoms 3/27/04 Articles: Phantoms' OT victory stings Sens
March 28, 2004

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

Phantoms' OT victory stings Sens

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- Immersed in a fight to qualify for the Calder Cup playoffs, the Binghamton Senators are unfit to be tied.

Overtime losses don't suit them either.

But after 60 minutes of scoreless -- but well-played -- hockey Saturday night, that's exactly what they got when rookie defenseman James Laux's blast from the blue line beat a screened Ray Emery 23 seconds into overtime to give the Philadelphia Phantoms a 1-0 victory before the 17th sell-out crowd this season at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.

"I blew the game for us," said winger Brad Tapper. "I left my D-man (Laux). Nobody is more upset than me. (Coach) Johnny (Paddock) puts me out there for a reason, and I let everybody down."

The Senators still earned one point but dropped out of a fourth-place tie with Norfolk, a 3-1 winner over Bridgeport. Sixth-place Hershey lost to Manchester, 3-0, so the Senators' lead for the final East Division playoff spot grew to two points.

Given the Senators' position and the Phantoms' ongoing fight for first place, the game took on the predictable tone of a close-to-the-vest defensive duel. There were just 51 combined shots in regulation.

"It was a playoff-type game, hard-checking, pretty tight," Paddock said. "It should be that way this time of the year."

Phantoms winger Mark Murphy's bid to break the scoreless stalemate with 17:41 left in regulation went off the crossbar, and shots by Senators center Charlie Stephens and winger Arpad Mihaly were kicked aside by Antero Niittymaki, who also flashed his glove to rob Julien Vauclair twice on a late third-period power play.

Emery was equally solid, stopping the first 28 Phantoms shots, and while he never got a good look at Laux's goal, Emery said the loss "puts a bad taste in everybody's mouth."

"We had the momentum that whole game," Tapper said. "(Niittymaki) stood on his head, but we controlled most of the game. It comes down to the end and we need two points, so it's just really frustrating that we only got one."