Hershey 5, B-Sens 2 Sharp's blog;
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I had a feeling of deja vu Friday night.
You'll remember Binghamton opened with two good wins to start the season, raising expectations for this new bunch of B-Sens. But in game No. 3, the Bears rolled in and whacked them 8-1, thus kick starting a six-game winless skid. This time, Binghamton returned home after a pretty good road trip. The team was greeted by a sellout crowd eager to cheer, but instead, Hershey scored 1 minute, 38 seconds into the first period en route to another deflating 5-2 loss.
That's twice now that Hershey has stormed in and taken the wind out of this Arena's sails.
It's unfortunate for the B-Sens, because they've put together some good hockey this month, blanking the River Rats in Albany, blanking Hamilton in Montreal, winning in Norfolk, gutting out a shootout win in Hartford on Wednesday night despite the flu bug rearing its ugly head. They're firmly in the mix, two points out of second place, and yet all their home fans have seen over the past six weeks is this: Loss, shootout loss, loss, overtime loss, loss, loss. The frustration in the stands was evident last night, and it's evident still today in the comments section of this and other sites.
Couple notes on this one:
-- Did you hear how loud the crowd got for those two fights? Unfortunately, that was it though. Giving up a goal 1:38 in, then falling behind 3-0 by the 5:08 mark of the second was a killer on a night when 4,710 fans packed the arena.
-- Here's coach Don Nachbaur on those two too many men on the ice penalties -- the second of which led to a power-play goal, giving Hershey that 3-0 lead.
"That's just being disorganized. That's guys sitting on the bench knowing who's up and not calling out their responsibilities. Such as, if you're a left winger Mike, and I'm the left winger, I'm calling out 'I got Mike.' It's communicating. And those are the moments in a game that can lose it for you. And we made too many critical errors like that (Friday night). ... And against a good hockey team, and a rounded hockey team like Hershey, you can't make those mistakes."
-- And on just about every Hershey goal you can put your finger on a critical mistake or miscue that Hershey capitalized on. First, blown defensive zone coveage allows Boyd Kane to walk in all alone through the slot. Second, a Tomas Kudelka pass is picked off in the Binghamton zone, leading to a 2-on-0 break. Third, that too many men on the ice penalty. Fourth, Erik Karlsson's stick breaks at the top of the Hershey zone, leading to a fast break the other way. And the fifth goal came off a Jim O'Brien turnover.
And so, despite the fact Binghamton was actually carrying the play for stretches, despite the fact the B-Sens owned a decided advantage in shots (40-22) and chances, they were trailing the whole way.
"When you're down in (Hershey's) end, and it comes down in our end, you're going to need a save," Nachbaur said. "And we made some mistakes with the puck, and sent them in on breakaways -- based on, not them making plays, based on our mistakes with the puck. And support in behind the puck. And we paid the price."
-- At the other end, Hershey goalie Jason Bacashihua was tremendous. He stopped Martin St. Pierre on a second-period breakaway, and later in the period, he sprawled across his goalmouth to rob Ryan Keller with his glove after he appeared to be down and out. As Keller pointed out later, if the B-Sens capitalize on those two sequences, it's suddenly a 3-2 game in the second.
-- There are things this team can take from this game, though. And as I said above, the B-Sens carried the play for stretches Friday night against, certainly, the class of the East Division.
It's a funny division this year, too. And with the exception of the Bears, no one is separating themselves. Thus, should Norfolk lose in Portland tonight, and the B-Sens top Albany at home, suddenly Binghamton is sitting alone in second. Longer term, bigger picture, though, this team has to start capitalizing on its home ice.
I can't help thinking back to something Nachbaur said following Wednesday's win in Hartford: "We really were solid with details. I thought that we were smart at times when we had to be, and you know what, we really supported each other real well. (Hartford) didn't have any odd-man rushes. I thought without the puck we were real good."
Back on their home ice Friday, though, those details came back to bite them.
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That is awesome!!!! Go Bingo!! 
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