While I did not go to Binghamton’s game today in Ottawa I was able to watch the broadcast on TV. It was not a great game for the Senators, the officials, nor the broadcasters. The B-Sens were out shot 33-18 and outside their powerplay had difficulty generating scoring chances. Some of the players were clearly trying to do too much. Before breaking down individual performances (for the box score go here link and for Joy Lindsay’s game summary go here link), here’s a quick look at the goals scored:
1. Hamilton, Willsie
Lehner misses a shot fired through Mark Borowiecki
2. Hamilton, Nattinen (pp)
Borowiecki turned the puck over and Hamilton capitalizes
3. Hamilton, St. Denis (pp)
Scored on the initial faceoff of a 5-on-3
4. Wierioch (Filatov, Petersson) (pp)
A great individual effort as Wierioch drove the net
5. Hamilton, Engqvist
Heshka turns the puck over and Hamilton capitalizes
6. O’Brien (Hoffman, Raymond)
O’Brien cashes in the rebound off of Hoffman‘s tip
7. Hamilton, Leblanc
Scores on a breakaway that began as a 2-on-1; Petersson where’s some of the goat horns here as he stick-checked instead of throwing the body to prevent the odd-man rush
Binghamton has two needs: a puck-moving defenseman (outside of Wiercioch there’s no threat from the blueline; the team also struggles to break out of its zone) and better offensive depth at forward. The bottom size on the roster just don’t generate enough pressure so that the top-six group is often forced to gamble more than they should to make up for it (especially when the team gets behind).
Individual performances (alphabetically from forwards to goalie):
Pat Cannone (0 shots, even) – I expected a lot more from Cannone who did not have a good game; he turned the puck over frequently and his best offensive chance was via a Filatov pass where he missed the net
Louie Caporusso (0 shots, -1) – took a dumb penalty that resulted in Nattinen‘s goal and other than turning the puck over accomplished nothing
Corey Cowick (3 shots, even) – didn’t play a whole lot; he was physical, but despite being tied for the most shots on the team wasn’t noticeable offensively
Jack Downing (0 shots, even) – he didn’t play much; he threw one big hit, but turned the puck over a lot
David Dziurzynski (0 shots, even) – I liked his play; he was one of the better penalty killers and was physical on the forecheck
Nikita Filatov (1 assist, 0 shots, -1) – very creative offensively and played hard; seems to get confused on the half boards over when he should move down to support the defenseman
Wacey Hamilton (1 shot, even) – played well with limited ice time; he was given a phantom penalty in the third period
Mike Hoffman (1 assist, 2 shots, -1) – played well and generated chances; he was one of the few players who looked comfortable on the ice
Francis Lessard (0 shots, even) – got into a fight and threw body checks
Jim O’Brien (1 goal, 3 shots, -1) – I really liked his game; he was tied for the lead in team scoring chances and was hard on the puck
Mark Parrish (0 shots, even) – I thought I’d notice him more, but while he didn’t play poorly he wasn’t very noticeable
Andre Petersson (1 assist, 1 shot, -2) – he was trying to do too much and the second half of the game was regularly turning the puck over; he needs another half-step to have more success offensively and needs to consistently back check
Mark Borowiecki (2 shots, -1) – I was expecting a lot from him and didn’t get all I was hoping–I suspect he was pressing too hard
Eric Gryba (1 shot, +1) – played well, throwing the best hip check of the game; needs to hurry up his decision-making when it comes to the first pass out of the zone
Shaun Heshka (2 shots, -2) – was in scramble mood the entire game; didn’t play much until the score was out of hand
Bobby Raymond (1 assist, +1) – didn’t play a whole lot, but was solid when he did
Craig Schira (0 shots, even) – struggled to make the good first pass out of his zone; didn’t show as much skill as I was expecting
Patrick Wiercioch (1 goal, 3 shots, -2) – he’s still an adventure in his own zone, but he’s much better offensively
Robin Lehner (33 shots, 5 goals) – he made some great saves in the game, but would like the Willsie and Engqvist goals back
eyeonthesens 