LAST WEEK…

Friday, Mar. 14: Norfolk 1, Binghamton 3

Shots: Norfolk 31, Binghamton 34

PP: Norfolk 0 for 7, Binghamton 0 for 3

The Binghamton Senators snapped its six-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the visiting Norfolk Admirals on Friday night. Andrew Hammond played strong in net for the B-Sens stopping 30 of 31 shots faced to earn his 18th win of the season.



David Dziurzynski started off the scoring for Binghamton 6:19 into the opening period. After Norfolk’s goaltender Brad Thiessen made a save on a shot from Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Dziurzynksi skated to the net hard and chipped in the loose rebound for his seventh goal of the year. Binghamton doubled its lead to 2-0 at the 14:28 mark of the frame when Stephane Da Costa pushed home another loose puck. Mark Borowiecki and Chris Wideman were credited with the assists on Da Costa’s 15th marker of the year.



Norfolk shrunk the Sens lead to 2-1 just thirteen seconds into the second period on a well placed wrist shot from Devante Smith-Pelly. Thiessen stopped all 11 shots faced in the middle frame while Hammond stopped 10 of 11 to keep the score at 2-1 heading into the final period.



Norfolk failed to best Hammond through the final 20 minutes of regulation despite having three power-play chances in the third period. Pageau converted on an open net opportunity with just over a minute to play to move the final score to 3-1.



Pageau finished with a goal and an assist to lead the B-Sens offensively. Thiessen fell to 3-3-2 allowing three goals on 34 shots faced.



Saturday, Mar. 15: Rochester 1, Binghamton 2

Shots: Rochester 39, Binghamton 33

PP: Rochester 0 for 4, Binghamton 1 for 6

The Binghamton Senators rode strong goaltending to a 2-1 win over the Rochester Americans Saturday night in front of a crowd of 4,273 fans. Hammond allowed just a single goal for the second straight night while Cole Schneider and Pageau chipped in goals to lead the B-Sens to its second straight win.



The opening period was a battle won by Hammond and his counterpart Nathan Lieuwen of the Americans as both goaltenders were perfect in the opening twenty minutes of play. Lieuwen stopped all 11 shots faced in the frame while Hammond stonewalled all 12 Amerks tries on net to send the teams to the locker room knotted 0-0.



Schneider broke the scoreless tie 4:07 into the second period on the power play to give Binghamton the 1-0 lead. Da Costa received a pass and skated towards the left circle where he pushed the puck to Mark Stone. Stone alertly one-timed the feed to Schneider on the crease who buried his 17th goal of the season. The B-Sens carried the slim one-goal advantage into the final intermission.



Pageau extended Binghamton’s lead to a pair of goals 7:20 into the third period on an even strength marker. Schneider and Buddy Robinson were credited with the assists on Pageau’s 14th goal of the year. The Amerks drew to within a goal when a Johan Larsson shot was tipped into the air and found the back of the Binghamton net to push the score to 2-1, but that was as close as Rochester would get. Hammond turned aside the remaining shots faced in the period to earn his 19th victory of his rookie campaign.



Lieuwen finished with 31 saves on 33 shots faced in the loss while Hammond stopped 38 of 39 shots faced for the victory.

Sunday, Mar. 16: Binghamton 7, Rochester 3

Shots: Binghamton 31, Rochester 25

PP: Binghamton 1 for 4, Rochester 2 for 7

Binghamton scored five third period goals en route to a come-from-behind victory in Rochester over the Americans. Stone scored twice for the B-Sens while six other skaters finished with two points to give Binghamton its third straight victory. Hammond stopped 19 of 22 shots faced for his 19th win of the season.



The Amerks opened the scoring 1:12 into the first period when Mike Zigomanis batted home a loose puck on the crease. Larsson and Kevin Porter were credited with the assists on Zigomanis’ 12th goal of the year.



Binghamton’s power-play unit evened the score at the 8:18 mark of the opening period on Matt Puempel’s 23rd tally of his rookie campaign. Working the man advantage, Da Costa cycled the puck to Wideman on the the far point. Wideman sent a pass to Puempel at the top of the right circle who then one-timed the feed past Rochester’s Matt Hackett to covert on the five-on-three man advantage.



Rochester retook the lead on its own five-on-three power play when Luke Adam chipped home a puck off of Binghamton’s Mark Borowiecki at 14:16 of the first. Borowiecki went to the locker room following the shot while the first period ended with the Amerks holding the 2-1 lead. Hammond, who started in net for Binghamton for the third consecutive night, stopped six of eight Americans’ shots while Hackett turned aside six of seven B-Sens tries on net through the opening 20 minutes of play.



Binghamton looked to be headed to the third period trailing Rochester 2-1, but the Sens evened the score with 28 seconds remaining in the middle frame. Robinson and Pageau grabbed the helpers on Schneider’s 18th goal of the season. Hammond stopped all nine shots faced in the period.



The B-Sens offense exploded for five goals in the final 20 minutes of play to take the game 7-3. Binghamton scored three straight to start the period with the first coming from Robinson at 4:48.



Binghamton extended its lead to 4-2 when Dziurzynski followed up his own shot to push home a rebound off of Hackett before the Sens made it a three-goal advantage on Stone’s first marker of the night 14:39 into the period.



Porter shrunk the Senators lead to 5-3 at 15:47 on a power-play goal, but Binghamton responded 18 seconds later with a goal from Fredrik Claesson. Stone moved the final to 7-3 with his 15th marker of the year at 18:30 to give the B-Sens the victory.



Claesson, Puempel, Robinson and Schneider all finished with a goal and an assist while Da Costa and Pageau chipped in a pair of helpers to help Binghamton back into first place in the East Division.

Record: 36-20-1-4 (77 points)

Standings: Binghamton returned to its winning ways with a clean sweep of its weekend games, earning six points in the standings and regaining the top spot in the East Division. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton trails the B-Sens by a single point with 34-20-3-5 record through 62 games played. Norfolk sits three points behind Binghamton with a 33-21-1-7 record over 62 games. Hershey holds the fourth position in the division with 70 points and a 31-23-4-4 record through 62 games but currently trail the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by one point. Syracuse remains in last place with 58 points through 61 games and a 24-27-4-6 record.



THIS WEEK…

Wednesday, March 19 @ Albany Devils (New Jersey Devils)—7:00p.m.



Binghamton puts its three-game winning streak on the line with a visit to Albany on Wednesday night for its fifth of six total meetings this season against the Devils. The B-Sens have three victories in the previous four games with the lone setback on the year coming from a 3-2 shootout loss at home December 7. Albany sits in second place in the Northeast Division with 74 points through 62 games played and a 32-20-3-7 record.

Left winger Joe Whitney leads the Devils offensively with 21 goals and 26 assists over 60 games this season.

Goaltender Keith Kinkaid has seen action in 36 contests this year compiling a 21-10-4 record with a 2.37 goals-against average and a 0.910 save percentage. Rookie backup Scott Wedgewood has played in 28 contests and has gone 11-12-3 with a 2.54 goals-against average and a 0.894 save percentage.



Friday, March 21 @ Norfolk Admirals (Anaheim Ducks)—7:30p.m.

Saturday, March 22 @ Norfolk Admirals (Anaheim Ducks)—7:15p.m.

The B-Sens continue their road trip with back-to-back games against the Norfolk Admirals Friday and Saturday. This will be the final trip to Norfolk for Binghamton this year and the fifth and sixth meeting of the teams eight-game series. The Sens have taken the last three games after dropping the first game of the series in Norfolk 5-0 back on October 11. Norfolk sits in third place in the East Division and just three points behind Binghamton for the top spot.

Former Binghamton Senator Andre Petersson leads the Admirals with 44 points (19 goals, 25 assists) over 52 games played this season. Devante Smith-Pelly leads Norfolk with 22 goals in 49 contests this year.

Rookie goaltender John Gibson has a 19-14-4 record over 40 games this season with a 2.34 goals-against average and a 0.921 save percentage. Backup Brad Thiessen has played in 10 games this year while compiling a 3-3-2 record with a 1.98 goals-against average and a 0.943 save percentage.

SENS SNIPPETS…



After posting three wins in as many contests this past weekend rookie goaltender Andrew Hammond improved to 20-14-3 this season. Hammond’s 20 wins have him in a tie for second place in the American Hockey League among first year goaltenders.

Forward Matt Puempel leads all AHL rookies with 12 power-play goals on the season. Overall Puempel sits tied for 4th place among rookies with 23 goals on the year.

Defenseman Fredrik Claesson, following a plus-3 performance in Sunday’s 7-3 win over Rochester, leads the AHL with a plus-37 for the season.

Forward Mark Stone has recorded 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 13 games played with the B-Sens since his re-assignment from Ottawa on February 6. For the season Stone has 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 32 games played.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE (Practice times and locations are subject to change) …

Wednesday, Mar. 19 10:00a.m. – On Ice Broome County Arena

2:10p.m. – Bus Departs for Albany

7:00p.m. – Binghamton @ Albany

Times Union Center – Albany, NY

POSTGAME—Bus to Norfolk



Thursday, Mar. 20 TBD IN NORFOLK

Friday, Mar. 21 11:15a.m. – On Ice in NORFOLK

7:30p.m. – Binghamton @ Norfolk

Norfolk Scope Arena – Norfolk, VA

Saturday, Mar. 22 11:15a.m. – On Ice in NORFOLK

7:15p.m. – Binghamton @ Norfolk

Norfolk Scope Arena – Norfolk, VA

Sunday, Mar. 23 OFF—NO MEDIA AVAILABILITY

Monday, Mar. 24 9:00a.m. – On Ice at BCC

Tuesday, Mar. 25 3:00p.m. – On Ice at BCC

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For more information, please contact:

Joe Battaglini, Director of Media Relations, 607-722-7367