Prospect Update: Positives in Bingo

Coming off a pair of games up in Ontario taking on the Marlies in both Ottawa and Toronto, the Sens went to Allentown to finish off their road trip against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The Binghamton Senators have matched up pretty favourably against the Phantoms, leading the season series with a record of 4-2-1

After a strong start in their game in Ottawa, coach Luke Richardson turned to Scott Greenham in net for the BSens. Unfortunately the slow starts would hurt the Sens early, as Stortini would jam home the first goal of the game for Lehigh Valley. Midway through the period, the Phantoms would tip home a point shot to go up by a pair.

The Sens would finally get on the board early in the second period off a tip-in off the stick of Garrett Thompson from a Chris Wideman point shot. The Sens would outshoot the Phantoms by a 13-7 margin in the period, but Scott Greenham would come up with some great saves to keep the Sens in it.

The unlikely goal scorers would continue for the Sens to even the score at two in the third. With four minutes to go, tough guy Darren Kramer roofed one from a bad angle for his fourth of the season. The tie wouldn't last long as the Phantoms would answer right back as a point shot would find its way through a maze of bodies in front and past Greenham for the 3-2 lead.

In the final minute, the Sens would be pressing hard for the late equalizer. With Greenham on the bench, defenceman Alex Grant fired a shot from the right point, and your friendly neighbourhood Colin Greening would tip it home to even the game at three.

Offsetting last second penalties would make us kick off the overtime period 3-on-3. After over 5 minutes of exciting 3-on-3 action, it looked as though the game would be headed for a shootout. With 11 seconds to go in the overtime period, captain Aaron Johnson would walk down main street and wire a slapshot past the Phantoms' goalie for the Senator win.

Binghamton Senators 4 - Lehigh Valley Phantoms 3 (OT)
Binghamton Senators Record: 21-24-6

Friday: Binghamton Senators vs. Hershey Bears

Friday was a big night in Binghamton, not only was it the 1,000 regular season game in Binghamton Senators history, but it was also DIFD night in Binghamton. The Sens turned to Scott Greenham in net again hoping to pick up his third straight win against Jim O'Brien and the Hershey Bears. The Sens also welcomed Patrick Mullen back into the line-up after being out for a month.

The Bears would strike first blood three minutes into the game with a soft goal on a 2-on-1 rush. A minute later, the Bears would break in 3-on-2 and bury it past Greenham to put them up by a pair at the four-minute mark. Greenham would come up with some big saves to give the Sens a chance in this one. The slow start would send the Sens into the first intermission down 2-0 and outshot by a 19-13 margin.

After an early second period penalty kill, Cole Schneider would walk out of the corner, make a nice move, and bury it on the backhand to cut the deficit to one. Not long after, Wideman would take a high stick and Brad Mills would step in to stick up for him and drop the gloves with Schilling for a spirited scrap.

Later, Schneider would feed Carter Camper in the slot to even the game at two to shake off their first period. Shortly thereafter, the Sens would head to the powerplay where an Alex Grant point shot would hit Derek Grant in front and go past the Hershey goalie to give the Sens the lead. Before the end of the second, Liam O'Brien would make contact with Greenham and Darren Kramer came in to drop the gloves with him.

The Sens kicked off the third period with a 3-2 lead. Midway through the period, Ryan Dzingel would work it out from behind the net, feed it to Alex Guptill all alone in front to make it 4-2.

Late in the third, the Bears would tip home a point shot to make it a 4-3 game. That's as close as it would get, as the empty net specialist Colin Greening would add the last minute insurance goal to close it out 5-3. The win would extend Greenham's win streak to three games.

Binghamton Senators 5 - Hershey Bears 3
Binghamton Senators Record: 22-24-6

Saturday: Binghamton Senators at Syracuse Crunch

After a big win on Friday, the BSens hoped to keep the win streak alive with a trip up the I-81 to Syracuse to take on the Crunch. The Sens were without Matt Puempel as he was up in Ottawa making his NHL debut. After a pair of good starts this week, Greenham was offered a rest while Peter Mannino was given the net on Saturday.

Early in the first, the Sens broke in 3-on-2. Schneider would pass it cross-ice to Shane Prince who would find Camper driving hard to the net to tip it in for a 1-0 Senator lead. After a failed clearing attempt, the Crunch would counter and fire a hard wristshot past Mannino to even the game.

Just before the end of the first period, the Crunch would catch Claesson looking the wrong way and Carter Ashton would rip it far side on Mannino to end the period with a 2-1 lead.

Syracuse would make it a 3-1 game after Vermin would outmuscle Claesson in the slot and fire it home. It wasn't the best game for Claesson, as he was a noticeable -3 but I'm sure he'll be able to shake it off for next week. Syracuse would get some top quality chances in the second, including a wild save in which Mannino swung around with his glove to pull it off the goal line.

Midway through the second, off a broken play on a rush by McCormick, Garrett Thompson would come in and rip it past Gudlevskis. The Sens went into the second intermission down 3-2.

The Sens would get their fair share of chances to tie it, but the Syracuse captain Angelidis would bang home an insurance goal. Later in the period, Greening would go top shelf on the backhand to again cut the deficit to one with five minutes to go in the third.

The Crunch would add a late empty net goal to make it 5-3 and all hell would break loose. Everyone would pair off with gloves scattered everywhere. The loss would also end the two-game winning "streak" for the Sens.

Binghamton Senators 3 - Syracuse Crunch 5
Binghamton Senators Record: 22-25-6

Bits and Bites from Bingo:

- This week, the Sens managed to crawl out of last place in the Eastern Conference, and are now in a deadlock for second-last spot and 12 points out

- Colin Greening is on a 6-game point streak, including goals in his past three games. Hopefully his time in the AHL has sparked his confidence as he rejoins the Sens on their western road trip.

- In his first game back after being sent back down to the AHL, Shane Prince had a big night by picking up three assists in a 5-3 Binghamton win. Prince earned a second star selection in the game.

- Despite losing Shane Prince and Matt Puempel for a few games, the Sens haven't been struggling offensively with lighting the lamp as they have scored at least three goals in each of their last six games. They now have the second-most goals in the AHL.

- Meanwhile, the Sens continue to give up a ton of scoring chances which leaves them with a league-worst 3.38 goals against average.

The Week Ahead:

Friday, February 27th at 7:00pm. Hershey Bears at Binghamton Senators
Saturday, February 28th at 7:00pm. Binghamton Senators at Lehigh Valley
Sunday, March 1st at 3:00pm. Binghamton Senators at Albany Devils

Notable Updates from North American Prospects:

Nick Paul: A great week from Nick Paul, scoring four goals in three games. He is tied for 15th in the OHL with 31 goals on the season.

Kelly Summers: The defenceman from Carleton place who was just drafted this past year, scored his sixth goal of the season for Clarkson.

Vincent Dunn: Scored a powerplay goal for the Rimouski Oceanic on Thursday. He continues to pile up the penalty minutes, with the third-most in the QMJHL.