Jason Spezza had a goal and two assists to lead the Binghamton Senators to a 5-3 win over Syracuse in the Crunch's second annual 'Crunch Rule in School' event held Wednesday afternoon at the War Memorial.
Syracuse was by no means tardy for this one as they broke out of the gates with two goals before the first period was even seven minutes old. Newcomer Brian Gornick got things rolling when he intercepted a Denis Hamel pass deep in the Senator zone and flipped a shot over the right shoulder of Binghamton netminder Ray Emery.
A little over three minutes later Joe Motzko put the Crunch up two courtesy of some hard work in the corner by Crunch defenseman Aaron Johnson. His play along the end boards enabled Motzko to corral a loose puck in the corner, skate untouched into the slot and roof one past Emery for his second of the preseason and a 2-0 Syracuse advantage.
Early in the second period Binghamton cut the Crunch lead in half on a goal from Jason Spezza. With the Senators holding a four on three advantage, the talented Spezza one-timed a Brian Pothier feed past Crunch goaltender Karl Goehring for his first goal of the preseason.
Later in the period Binghamton evened things up with another power play tally, this one off the stick of rookie Brandon Bochenski. The University of North Dakota product pounded home the rebound of a Pothier offering for his second of this young preseason and a 2-2 game.
Just under four minutes later Binghamton took their first lead of the game on a goal from defenseman Andy Hedlund. Hedlund's drive from atop the left face-off circle appeared to be tipped before finding its way past Goehring short side for a 3-2 Senator lead.
Syracuse evened things up early in the third on a nifty play from second year defenseman Aaron Johnson. Pinching in on the play, Johnson flipped a quick wrist shot that caromed off the shoulder of Emery before finding its way into the net for the score.
Just over a minute later the Sens regained the lead for good on a shorthanded goal from ex-Crunch player Pat Kavanagh. Signed in the off season by Binghamton after three seasons in Manitoba, Kavanagh made one of the prettier moves of the night and slipped one past a prone Karl Goehring for the tally.
Denis Hamel's power play goal, the third of the game for Binghamton, sealed things for the Sens. Ray Emery went the distance for Binghamton, recording 34 saves. Karl Goehring registered 32 saves in a losing effort for Syracuse.
Crunch Ice Pack:
Date:October 6, 2005
Where:War Memorial at Oncenter
Opponent:Binghamton Senators
Attendance:3,129
Boxscore:
First Period-Scoring-1. Syracuse, Gornick 1 (unassisted), 3:30. 2. Syracuse, Motzko 2 (Komarniski, Johnson), 6:35, (pp). Penalties-Spezza, Bin (roughing), :36; Potulny, Bin (tripping), 5:00; Fried, Bin (hooking), 7:05; Johnson, T, Bin (fighting), 7:05; Campbell, Bin (roughing), 7:05; Mauldin, Syr (fighting), 7:05; Reich, Syr (roughing), 7:05; Lakos, Syr (holding), 8:55; Bench Minor, Bin (too many men, served by Bois), 11:16; Komadoski, Bin (fighting), 12:47; Sugden, Syr (fighting), 12:47; Langfeld, Bin (high-stick), 13:09; Ryan, Syr (hooking), 13:16; Johnson, Bin (hooking), 14:42; Mauldin, Syr (obs. hooking), 19:03; Lakos, Syr (major-high stick), 19:13; Bochenski, Bin (interference), 19:29.
Second Period-Scoring-3. Binghamton, Spezza 1 (Pothier, Hamel), :36, (pp). 4. Binghamton, Bochenski 2 (Pothier, Spezza), 6:53, (pp). 5. Binghamton, Hedlund 1 (Hamel, Spezza), 10:51. Penalties-Johnson, Syr (slashing), :36; Bois, Bin (goaltender interference), 4:00; Johnson, G, Bin (hooking), 4:19; Johnson, T, Bin (fighting), 4:19; Ryan, Syr (minor, major)(cross-check), 4:19; Kolarik, Syr (obs. hooking), 5:58; Hedlund, Bin (holding the stick), 11:30; Komarniski, Syr (slashing), 15:51; Gornick, Syr (hooking), 18:10; Bois, Bin (unsportsmanlike), 19: 22.
Third Period-Scoring-6. Syracuse, Johnson 1 (Gornick), 2:36. 7. Binghamton, Kavanagh 1 (Langfeld), 3:56, (sh). 8. Binghamton, Hamel 1 (T. Johnson), 12:15, (sh). Penalties-Campbell, Bin (tripping), 3:01; Johnson, Syr (tripping), 5:43; Gornick, Syr (holding), 11:01; Bois, Bin (hooking), 14:35.
Shots on Goal:Binghamton, 9-19-9--37; Syracuse, 18-10-9--37. Power Play Opportunities:Binghamton, 3-10; Syracuse, 1-12.
Goalies-Binghamton, Emery (1-0-0), 37 shots-34 saves; Syracuse, Goehring (0-1-0), 37 shots-32 saves.
Referee -Gordon Dwyer (39); Linesman - Derek Sylvester (76), John Murphy (71)
Lineups: Binghamton: Goal:Ray Emery, Billy Thompson Defense: Neil Komadoski, Brian Pothier, Andy Hedlund, Jan Platil, Trevor Johnson, Jesse Fibiger.Forwards: Jason Spezza, Brandon Bochenski, Greg Watson, Arpad Mihaly, Gregg Johnson, Danny Bois, Denis Hamel, Pat Kavanagh, Rob Fried, Josh Langfeld, Grant Potulny, Derek Campbell.
Syracuse: Goal:Karl Goehring, Pascal Leclaire. Defense: Zenith Komarniski, Andre Lakos, Evgueni Nourislamov, Aaron Johnson, Prestin Ryan, Ole-Kristian Tollefson. Forwards: Joe Motzko, Jeremy Reich, Tim Jackman, Mark Hartigan, Matthias Trattnig, Janne Jokila, Alexander Svitov, Brian Gornick Brandon Sugden, Tyler Kolarik, Greg Mauldin, Mike Pandolfo. T
Three Stars:
1. Jason Spezza: One goal, two assists and how about that move in the second period with the Sens on an odd man break. Maybe the most talented player in the AHL today.
2. Denis Hamel: Denny chips in with 3 points himself. Is Binghamton rookie Brandon Bochesnski lucky or what? First year in the AHL and he is put on a line with Spezza and Hamel. Enjoy it while it lasts Brandon.
3. Aaron Johnson: His hustle in the first lead to Motzko's goal; he added one of his own early in the third.
Short Shifts:
85 total minutes in penalties led to plenty of special teams play so lines were not as consistent Wednesday. For the most part it was Johnson and Lakos, with Komarniski and Tollefson along with Ryan and Nourislamov as the defensive pairings. Forward lines were Jackman, Kolarik and Trattnig with Motzko, Svitov and Jokila along with Sugden, Gornick and Pandolfo. Reich, Hartigan and Mauldin were also a trio ……Mike Pandolfo, Jeremy Reich and Zenith Komarniski served as alternate captains for the Crunch on Wednesday……Pascal Leclaire is scheduled to make his preseason debut on Thursday in Wilkes-Barre……With Dayton's camp set to open this weekend look for some roster moves to be conducted over the next two days.
On Deck:
The Crunch hit the road on Thursday to finish off their preseason slate with a game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Game time at Wachovia Arena is set for 7:05 P.M.