Tonight is the second of two meetings between the Binghamton Senators (28-13-0-3) and the Manchester Monarchs (28-12-2-5). The puck drops at 7pm EST. That's 4pm for you fans on the Kings coast.
The previous meeting was on January 3rd in Binghamton. The Senators won 5-4 on an overtime goal by Mike Hoffman. Hoffman had a goal and two assists that night and 10 other Senators notched points. Tanner Pearson (1 goal, 1 assist) and Linden Vey (2 assists) had multi-point nights for the Monarchs in the loss. AJ Gale, Brandon Kozun :(, and Colin Miller had goals while Jordan Weal and goaltender Jean-Francois Berube each had an assist. Beurbe made 26 saves in the overtime loss while the Senators Nathan Lawson made 31 saves.
Both teams lead their respective divisions and have identical point percentages of 67%, which ranks third best in the AHL behind the Springfield Falcons (70%) and the Grand Rapids Griffins (68.2%).
Game Notes
| Binghamton | Manchester | |
|---|---|---|
| GP | 44 | 47 |
| Record | 28-13-0-3 | 28-12-2-5 |
| Points | 59 | 63 |
| Division Rank | 1st in East | 1st in Atlantic |
| Conference Rank | 4th in Eastern | 1st in Eastern |
| Home/Away | Away: 13-8-0-0 | Home: 14-4-1-1 |
| Last 10 | 7-3-0-0 | 5-4-0-1 |
| Goals For | 164 | 140 |
| Goals Against | 135 | 121 |
| PIM/G | 18.6 | 13.4 |
| Shootout Record | 2-3 | 4-5 |
| Leading After 1 | 12-1-0-0 | 15-1-0-0 |
| Trailing After 1 | 5-10-0-2 | 5-6-0-0 |
| Tied After 1 | 11-2-0-1 | 8-5-2-4 |
| Leading After 2 | 21-0-0-1 | 22-0-0-3 |
| Trailing After 2 | 1-11-0-0 | 3-8-1-1 |
| Tied After 2 | 6-2-0-2 | 3-4-1-1 |
Special Teams
| Binghamton | Manchester | |
|---|---|---|
| PP% | 22.9% (46-for-201) | 13.8% (25-for-181) |
| PP Rank | 3rd | 27th |
| PP Home/Away | Away: 22.2% (22-for-99) | Home: 14.3% (9-for-63) |
| SHGA | 5 | 5 |
| PK% | 80.7% | 82.0% |
| PK Rank | 17th | 14th |
| PK Home/Away | Away: 78.0% | Home: 80.8% |
| SHGF | 14 | 3 |
These teams have mediocre penalty kills considering they are two of the top teams in the league. The Monarchs take far fewer penalties per game than the Senators to, and they should make sure to be disciplined tonight because the Senators have the third best power play in the league.
The Monarchs should also be cautious on the power play because the Senators have a ridiculous 14 shorthanded goals. 14? What the hell? That's twice as much as the teams with the second most shorthanded goals.
Leading Scorers
The Senators have the second leading scorer in the AHL in Mike Hoffman. Hoffman has 22 goals, 31 assists, and 53 points in 42 games. He is third in the league in goals, assists, and shots (153). He is currently on a seven-game point streak that began on January 15th. In that span he has six goals and seven assists.
Cole Schneider is also in the top 20 in scoring for the Senators (15-20-35 in 40 GP). For the Monarchs, Jordan Weal is the only player in the top 20. Weal is tied for ninth with 10 goals, 29 assists, and 39 points in 47 games.
The Senators have to players with three shorthanded goals, which is the most in the AHL: Derek Grant and Cole Schneider. Rookie Buddy Robinson's two shorthanded goals are the second most among AHL rookies.
Senators rookie Matt Puempel is in the top 20 of AHL rookie scorers. He has totals of 17-8-25 in 44 games. His eight power play goals are tied for first among AHL rookies.
On the blueline, Chris Wideman of the Senators is tied for third in scoring among defensemen. He has five goals and 28 assists for 33 points in 40 games.
For the Monarchs, their presence in the league-leaders category is sparse. Nick Deslauriers, who recently returned to playing defense, is second in the AHL in shots on net with 162.
The one arbitrary category that the Monarchs have been the best in all season is plus/minus, and Andrew Bodnarchuk and Vincent LoVerde have been the top two for a big part of the season. However, the two defensemen are now second and third, respectively, with +29 and +28. The Senators rookie defenseman Fredrik Claesson leads the league with a +30. Manchester's Nick Shore is tied for second in rookie plus/minus with +12.
Goaltending
JF Berube will undoubtedly get the start against the Senators tonight. He has played all but one game with Martin Jones gone, and that game was an overtime loss last weekend against Worcester. In that game, Mathias Niederberger made his first stat and made 41 saves.
Berube probably won't play every game anymore now that Jones is gone for good, but he will be expected to elevate his play in important games against the league's best teams such as the Senators.
This season, Berube has played in 31 games and recorded one shutout. He is 17-12-2 with a goals against average of 2.47 and save percentage of 0.913.
The goaltenders for the Senators have each played 23 games. Nathan Lawson played against the Monarchs in the January 3rd win, but for the majority of the season he and Andrew Hammond have evenly split the starting duties.
Lawson is 15-5-0 in 23 games with a 2.55 GAA and 0.922 save percentage. Hammond is 12-8-3 in 23 games with a 3.23 GAA and 0.897 save percentage.
Lineups
Starting goaltenders, line combinations, and defensive pairings will be updated here as soon as they're made available closer to game time.
Long Live the Burger King Jerseys
Here are two GIFs of Linden Vey scoring the game winning goal in the final second of overtime against the Portland Pirates last Saturday when the Monarchs worse those beautiful LA Kings tribute jerseys.
You're welcome.
I have inquired about making these the full-time Monarchs jerseys but received no response.