Binghamton Senators Pre-Game Report: @ Albany Devils

Binghamton Senators and Albany Devils face each other for the first time in almost two months as the streaky Sens will be searching for their fourth consecutive win. This is another ‘game in hand’ being played before second place Penguins and third spot Admirals as currently three points separate the trio in the East Division as Binghamton looks to add their first place lead. Albany is on a semi win streak of their own, looking for their third straight following back to back shutouts this past weekend over both Hartford and Syracuse.

 Media Kit

(36-20-1-4) 77 pts

/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.eiDTkNPD.dpuf(8-4-0-0) 16 pts

First in East Division

VS.

(32-20-3-7) 74 pts

Second in NorthEast Division

Projected Lines

Puempel-Da Costa-Stone

Schneider-Pageau-Robinson

Prince-O’Brien-D. Grant

Cowick-Hamilton-Dziurzynski

Borowiecki-Rutkowski

Claesson-A. Grant

Wideman-Sdao

Greenham-Hammond

 Scratches

Injured Reserve: Defensemen Danny New, undisclosed.

Healthy: Forwards Darren Kramer and Danny Hobbs, Defensemen Ben Blood and Patrick Mullen.

Notes

Binghamton has won three out of four played as Shane Prince and Matt Puempel both have four goals each against the Devils while Harri Pesonen has three. Andrew Hammond was in net for two out of the three Senators’ wins with a sparkling 1.93 gaa and .930 sv%. Tonight’s back up, Scott Greenham was the starter for the third win and that was his first in the AHL. On a side note, New Jersey recalled Tim Sestito for Tuesday’s match against Boston as the Devils end up losing to the Bruins.

Rookie goalie Scott Wedgewood, who posted back to back shutouts for Albany last weekend, was selected as the AHL Player of the Week. Wedgewood (11-12-3, 2.54) should get the nod as he has the hot glove over teammate Keith Kinkaid, while Hammond (20-14-3, 2.88) will start with his teammate Nathan Lawson still up with Ottawa.

UPDATE; Lawson was injured (tweaked) in last night’s mop up duties in Ottawa’s 8-4 loss to the Rangers as he pulled himself out of the game in the third period, in what Paul MacLain later stated when asked, “He came up lame, and (we) better not push it.”

Captain Mark Borowiecki was featured in the Press & Sun Bulletin recently and newcomer defenseman Alex Grant had this to say concerning Boro, which I’ve heard before from other player’s but it’s still intriguing to me;

"“He’s a big difference maker..I know no one likes to play against him from being on two different teams in this division. He’s a hard-nosed guy, competes every night and he’s hard on the forwards. Pretty much any forward he plays against they know he’s out there, it gives our team a little more confidence when he’s there and it’s great to have him back.”"

I don’t remember an intimating defenseman quite the likeness, ever in Binghamton, since the days of Binghamton  Hockey Hall of Famer Gary Jaquith in the mid 70’s on the Broome Dusters. If you most likely never heard of Mr. Jaquith, you really have missed out as he was a rugged defenseman that player’s feared so much, as his hard checks and tough knuckles lead the way back in the era of old-time hockey. Matter of fact, he had a punching bag in the Duster locker room that he used before warm-ups, true story. Yea, we also had the legendary Goldie Goldthorpe in the days, but Jaquith was the city’s crown jewel back then.

Players To Watch For

Albany: Forwards Joe Whitney (21g 26a 60gms) and Mike Sislo (21g 15a 51gms), Defenseman Raman Hrabarenka (6g 13a 36gms).

Binghamton: Forward Stephane Da Costa (15g 37a 50gms) and Cole Schneider (18g 28a 55gms), Defenseman Chris Wideman (7g 34a 59gms).

Season Series

Sens are 3-0-0-1 this season against the Devils with two games remaining, both in Albany including tonight.

Current Playoff Picture 

• Percentage of reaching the playoffs: 99.1%

• Overall position (out of 100%) : 9th in the league

• Won or loss after last game +/-: +0.8 (W over Rochester).

Sens Tweet of the Day

Media

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Article Pic

Cover photo courtesy of Matt Trayling.