After three straight wins in preseason, and then back to back victories to open the regular season, the Binghamton Senators got their first taste of defeat on Friday night- falling 3-2 at the hands of the Hershey Bears.
Binghamton scored twice in the third period but could not find a way to beat Bears starter Danny Sabourin for the equalizer. The BSens have a chance to get back on track tonight when they host the Syracuse Crunch.
Robin Lehner was one of the best players on the ice through Bingo's first two games but struggled a bit last night as the Bears beat him three times on 21 shots.
All the offence came from the back end as Captain Andre Benoit scored the first goal for the home side while Tyler Eckford's shorthanded goal closed the gap to one.
Mika Zibanejad set up the Eckford goal and was possibly the best player on the ice in the third period. This lockout is obviously rough on hockey fans but there are some definite positives for the development of Sens prospects. Both Zibanejad and Silfverberg are getting a great opportunity to adjust to the North American game at the AHL level and that should be a huge benefit for the big club when the season starts.
The BSens have a chance for a quick rebound tonight againt the Crunch. No official line up changes announced by Luke Richardson yet but there was some talk about resting Jared Cowen in favour of Swedish defenceman Fredrik Claesson. Should have full line up details a little closer to game time.
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- Interesting piece here from Bruce Garrioch and the Ottawa Sun. An exclusive interview with Donald Fehr in which he discusses the current stance of the players and where he sees the negotiations going from here. There are currently no talks scheduled between the NHL and NHLPA with the window to play a full 82 game season closing quickly.
- Quick update on the Sens prospects currently playing in the CHL. Matt Puempel scored last night and now has seven goals through 9 games. Stefan Noesen scored his 7th of the season in just 10 games while Cody Ceci has 11 points in as many games with a struggling Ottawa 67's team. Goaltender Francois Brassard has an 8-2 record with a .919 save percentage and last week was named to the QMJHL team for the Subway Super Series to take place next month.
