Sens vs. Admirals 4/9/04 Articles: Desperation time: B-Sens stumble at Arena
April 10, 2004

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

Desperation time: B-Sens stumble at Arena

BY SCOTT LAUBER

Press & Sun-Bulletin

BINGHAMTON -- It didn't have to be this way. Had the Binghamton Senators come out with greater urgency Friday night, in a game that hardly required a pep talk, and had Norfolk Admirals goalie Michael Leighton been less than Herculean, maybe they would have clinched not only a playoff spot but also fourth place and home-ice advantage in the unpredictable best-of-three first-round series.

But the Senators were flat as a pancake in the first period, allowing a franchise-record number of shots, and Leighton stopped all 43 Senators shots in a 3-0 defeat the leaves open the chance they could miss the playoffs entirely.

Now it comes down to tonight. When the Rochester Americans visit the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, it could be the Senators' final home game of the season.

Or maybe their last game period.

Get ready for a photo finish.

"It's a tough game when you get 40-something shots and don't score," said winger Denis Hamel, who returned to the lineup and played with a shield attached to his helmet after a puck lacerated his face Sunday night in Philadelphia.

"We just have to come and make sure we get two points. We know it's going to be tough. Rochester's got a good team and a few players down from Buffalo (its parent club). But we need to make sure we get two points."

Two points clinches a playoff berth. Anything less and the Senators will need the Hershey Bears to lose one of their last two games tonight against Norfolk or Sunday against the Philadelphia Phantoms.

Hershey is 0-10-1 against Philadelphia this season, but the Senators have no interest in depending on anyone else's help.

"Without a doubt, we're confident," defenseman Andy Hedlund said. "It's down to the wire, last game of the season, and we have to win. As an athlete, that's a situation you live for."

Added coach John Paddock, "In pro sports, I think you want to play in a situation like that."

In a story that's sure to be repeated if the Senators miss the playoffs, Norfolk coach Trent Yawney found a horseshoe upon arriving at the Arena for Saturday's morning skate and put it in his club's dressing room.

A good omen for the Admirals? No doubt.

"I don't believe in that stuff," Yawney said, "but I put it in there anyway. I found it for a reason."

But horseshoes are not why the Senators are no longer a playoff shoo-in.

After taking the game's first five shots, the Senators were outshot 21-5 en route to setting a franchise record for most shots allowed in a period (22). They made sloppy passes trying to break out of their zone, and as a result, did not possess the puck nearly enough. When they did have it, they made poor decisions.

"We came out with what I felt was jump," Hedlund said. "We were playing the body right off the bat and skating well. Why the momentum turned, I really don't know."

But it did, and Norfolk took the lead at 7:57 on a rush that began when Brian McGrattan could not finish a check after exiting the penalty box. Admirals center Mikhail Yakubox, one of few offensive threats on a club that had scored four goals in its previous five games, launched a shot from the left circle over the glove of Ray Emery.

The Senators were better in the second period and nearly tied it on a 110-second five-on-three advantage. But McGrattan's shot hit the post to Leighton's right.

"It's one thing to kill a five-on-three when it's only part of (the first) penalty," Yawney said, "but this was almost all of both. That's when your goalie's got to come up big, and he did."

Leighton, sharp throughout, was super in the third when the Senators took a franchise-record 23 shots. He made a point-blank save on captain Chris Kelly with 14 minutes remaining and stacked his pads to thwart two Hedlund whacks off a feed from Hamel six minutes later.

Two empty-net goals in the final minute 23 seconds apart by Quintin Laing and Shawn Thornton sealed the victory and set up tonight's do-or-maybe-die scenario.

"The guys know what they have to do," Hamel said.

Now it's a matter on doing it.