Senators record rare win against Bears, 4-2

Before the game, Andrew Gordon called it:

When the Binghamton Senators scored the first two goals of the game, it was the first time the Senators held a lead against the Bears this season. Boyd Kane got his seventh goal of the season to cut Binghamton’s lead in half. Andrew Joudrey tied the game at two goals a piece with a goal late in the second period. It all came down to the third period.

Unfortunately, it was Binghamton that was ready to finish the game. Try as he might, Jay Beagle just could not get a goal. He had a lot of good chances but none were going his way. Hershey had a good push in the waning minutes of the game, but Barry Brust stood strong and even got the secondary assist on the empty net goal to make it 4-2 Senators over Bears.

Yes, Brust put on a much better performance than on Sunday. He stopped 42 shots tonight, giving himself a .954 save percentage. That’s a pretty good way to make up for a .771 save percentage from the last game.

So, close…but no cigar. The Bears need to rest up because they’ve got a big game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins tomorrow. What better way to redeem themselves? Oh, and please send a ‘Get Well Soon’ card to our many injured players.

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Perreault and the Bears send Senators packing, 8-3


Mathieu Perreault leads the Bears to victory on a night Barry Brust and the Binghamton Senators do not want to look back on. Photo by Kyle M.

How to even begin writing about this game…

It was all Andrew Gordon at first. He opened scoring only 70 seconds into the game. Seven minutes later, he added another goal to become the first Bear to reach double digits in goals this season. Brian Willsie scored his first goal a 25 seconds later and Steve Pinizzotto added to the tally a minute after that. Kyle Greentree scored before another Willsie goal to wrap up the first period. That’s right, 6-0 after the first period.

Binghamton managed to regain some of their dignity and come back with three goals during the rest of the game. Lawrence Nycholat had the final say with the last goal of the game to make it 8-3 Bears.

But let’s talk about Mathieu Perreault. He fell one assist short of tying the Hershey record for most assists in one game. Per Tim Leone, the current record is seven assists, set by Mitch Lamoureux on November 21, 1987 against Baltimore. the AHL Twitter announced that Perreault’s six assist night was the first since Rochester’s Chris Taylor on Oct 21, 2005.

The Bears were definitely playing well but it’s important to remember that the Binghamton Senators are having some serious goalie issues at the moment. Both Robin Lehner and Mike Brodeur are injured. A lot of people were questioning why the coaches weren’t pulling Barry Brust after goal four and on. Zane Kalembra was sitting on the bench and they probably weren’t in a hurry to put him in the game. He has never played an AHL game and only played one ECHL in his career. He was signed that morning as an emergency back-up. However, Brust actually did a good job after the first period. Maybe he realized that he was going to be in this game for the long run.

I know you’re all dying to hear how Semyon Varlamov did. When he was sent to Hershey, I’m thinking they were hoping to see him challenged more than he was tonight. He didn’t really have to deal with a lot of shots until the second period when Binghamton had a couple power plays, including a 5-on-3. He let in three goals, two while Hershey was on the penalty kill. He was pretty solid but probably wants at least one of those goals back. It’s understandable since he’s shaking off a lot of rust. He looked great when he stopped a shorthanded breakaway shot during the third period. Overall, he made 21 for 24 saves.

Hershey will rest for a few days. Their next game is Friday against the Senators again, but this time in Binghamton. The Senators are probably hoping they have more healthy goaltenders by then.

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Hershey is Binghamton’s Worst Nightmare, 7-1


The Bouchard-Perreault-Willsie line combined for a total of nine points.

Wow…where to even begin?? To say that Hershey dominated this game would be an understatement. Offense was the name of this game. Nine different Hershey players finished the game with at least a +2 rating. It was probably a good sign when the first goal of the night came just over two minutes into the game and a mere 12 seconds into the first power play of the night. Then the goals just came rolling in. Chances are, if you blinked, you missed a goal.

…unless it was the third period. Then you problably blinked and missed someone getting their face punched in. Joel Rechlicz, Sheldon Souray, and Patrick Wellar did a pretty good job of punishing people tonight. The three of them combined for a total of 28 penalty minutes.

It’s already been established that the Greentree-Aucoin-Gordon line works well together. But I’m more interested in seeing what the Bouchard-Willsie-Perreault line cab di. It’s probable that Brian Willsie would like to see it more too. His suitcase might be a little harder to pack up after the game when he tries to fit in those four points he got tonight.

I think the Senators are still shaking their heads after tonight. Hershey’s job tonight is to enjoy the moment, but also remember that tomorrow that they must defend the cup in front of their home crowd. The guys from last year’s squad are likely to be dreaming of their new bling tonight.

See what did I tell you?

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