by
Jeff Parzych
Andrew Penner recorded 46 saves and newcomer Matthias Trattnig notched the game-winning goal to lead the Syracuse Crunch over the Binghamton Senators in AHL preseason action Saturday night.
Early on in this one it was all Binghamton as their high octane offense peppered the Syracuse goal from a variety of angles. They finally were able to solve Crunch netminder Andrew Penner late in the opening frame.
Rookie Brandon Bochenski, who seconds earlier was robbed by Penner with a sprawling pad save, converted on his second attempt to make it 1-0 Senators. Both of Bochenski's offerings were of the one-time variety, the second off a gorgeous Jason Spezza cross crease feed.
After a scoreless second period the Crunch came out guns blazing in the third and scored twice in the first 4:01 of the period. Joe Motzko kicked things off when he intercepted a Brian Pothier pass at the blue line and broke in alone on Binghamton netminder Billy Thompson. Motzko made a good move and slipped a forehand shot past a prone Thompson for the shorthanded tally and a tie hockey game.
Less than three minutes later Syracuse struck again to take the lead. Newcomer Matthias Trattning's harmless wrister from the blueline appeared to handcuff Thompson and the shot deflected off the goaltender's arm and into the back of the net for the goal.
The Crunch was able to hang on from their, weathering a 12 shot Senator third period to garner the victory. Syracuse now stands at 1-1 in the preseason and also in the "I-81 Puck Cup" standings.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:October 2, 2005
Where:Broome County Arena
Opponent:Binghamton Senators
Attendance:1,898
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Binghamton, Bochenski 1 (Spezza, Langfeld), 14:28, (pp). Penalties-Johnstone, Syr (interference), :30; Kelly, Bin (holding), 4:01; Stephens, Bin (slashing), 6:04; Kolarik, Syr (holding), 6:09; Moran, Syr (tripping), 6:15; Limpright, Syr (cross-check), 12:48; Bois, Bin (fighting), 15:59; Johnstone, Syr (fighting), 15:59; Platil, Bin (holding), 18:03; Hamel, Bin (unsportsmanlike-diving), 18:29; Mauldin, Syr (obs. hooking), 18:29.
Second Period-Scoring-No Scoring. Penalties-Kelly, Bin (roughing), 4:04; Limpright, Syr (roughing), 4:04; Komadoski, Bin (hooking), 5:04; Hedlund, Bin (fighting), 7:39; Mauldin, Syr (boarding), 7:39; Goertzen, Syr (fighting), 7:39; Komadoski, Bin (cross-checking), 13:49; Sugden, Syr (boarding), 15:11; Platil, Bin (unsportsmanlike), 18:28; Komarniski, Syr (unsportsmanlike), 18:28; Ryan, Syr (holding the stick), 19:24.
Third Period-Scoring-2. Syracuse, Motzko 1 (unassisted), 1:12, (sh). 3. Syracuse, Trattnig 1 (Knopp), 4:01. Penalties-Lakos, Syr (holding), 4:11; Bois, Bin (minor, major)(roughing, fighting), 5:14; Ryan, Syr (fighting), 5:14; Komarniski, Syr (holding), 7:03.
Shots on Goal:Binghamton, 25-10-12--47; Syracuse, 7-8-6-21.
Power Play Opportunities: Binghamton, 1-9; Syracuse, 0-6.
Goalies-Binghamton, Emery 15 shots-15 saves, Thompson (0-1-0), in at 14:03 of second, 6 shots-4 saves. Syracuse, Penner, (1-1-0), 47 shots- 46 saves.
Referee-Ryan Fraser (14); Linesman- Jim Everett (82), Steve Lemay (64)
Lineups:
Binghamton: Goal: Ray Emery, Billy Thompson Defense: Neil Komadoski, Brian Pothier, Andy Hedlund, Jan Platil, Christoph Schubert, Jesse Fibiger.Forwards: Jason Spezza, Brandon Bochenski, Chris Kelly, Tom Clayton, Gregg Johnson, Danny Bois, Denis Hamel, Pat Kavanagh, Brian McGrattan, Josh Langfeld, Grant Potulny, Charlie Stephens.
Syracuse: Goal: Karl Goehring, Andrew Penner. Defense: Zenith Komarniski, Andre Lakos, Steve Rodberg , Tyler Sloan, Prestin Ryan, Alex Johnstone Forwards: Joe Motzko, Steven Goertzen, Ben Knopp, Brad Moran, Matthias Trattnig, Shawn Limpright, Greg Mauldin, Brian Gornick Brandon Sugden, Tyler Kolarik, Jeff Panzer, Mike Pandolfo.
I Hear Voices:
"I thought he played well. He is big in the net and anytime he is getting screened he is such a big guy that a lot of pucks hit him even though he doesn't know that they are hitting him because he is in great position." -Head Coach Gary Agnew on Andrew Penner's play Saturday night.
"I thought Trattnig played a hard game for his first pro game at the AHL level. I thought he battled hard and showed a little bit of physical play". -Agnew on who impressed him Saturday night.
"We wanted to see him again. It is not an easy job to play both positions at this level when you are trying to make it as a player. We just wanted to evaluate him at both positions. He played well last night at left wing and I thought tonight he was real solid on the blueline tonight." -Agnew on Sloan's switch Saturday evening.
"It is just a totally different game in North America. Real small ice surfaces, so crowded up and you don't have the puck as much, but it was fun." -Matthias Trattnig on his AHL debut.
"I was just going in there trying to work on some things that I really concentrated on in the summer like having a little more patience, especially against players like Spezza." -Andrew Penner on his 46 save performance.
"I thought me and Karl played really well last night. Steady, 0-0 all the way thru and then you lose the two points because of the shootout". -Penner on the disappointment of Friday's shootout loss.
Short Shifts:
Head man Gary Agnew once again was pretty consistent in his line combos Saturday night. His defensive pairings for the most part were Johnstone and Komarniski, Ryan and Sloan (who switched back to the blueline on Saturday) and Lakos with Steve Rodberg. The forward lines consisted of Pandolfo, Gornick and Motzko. Knopp, Moran and Trattnig along with Goertzen, Panzer and Mauldin. The last grouping was Sugden, Kolarik and Limpright. There were some slight variations due to the greater amount of penalties called in this one……..Mike Pandolfo, Brad Moran and Zenith Komarniski all wore the "A" for Saturday's tilt…….Defenseman Steve Rodberg was reportedly released from his P.T.O after Saturday's contest.
On Deck:
The Crunch is off until Wednesday when these same B-Sens visit the War Memorial for an afternoon tilt. It is Syracuse's second annual 'Crunch Rule in School' educational game. Puck is scheduled to drop at 11:00 AM.