David Descharnais has continued his solid play from the ECHL to the AHL
The Hamilton Bulldogs defeated the Binghamton Senators 5-3 on Saturday night. Ben Maxwell led the charge for the Bulldogs with a goal and an assist.
Binghamton opened the game’s scoring while on the power play at 11:53 of the final frame. Mattias Karlsson whacked away at the loose puck in front of Hamilton starting goaltender Cedrick Desjardins before sending the puck onto the stick of Josh Hennessy. Hennessy slid the puck over the goal line to give the Senators a 1-0 lead.
Hamilton tied the game 1-1 at 1:28 of the second stanza. David Desharnais skated behind Binghamton’s net before sending a pass to Maxwell. Maxwell fired a shot that beat Binghamton starting goaltender Jeff Glass. Hamilton took a 2-1 lead at 16:08. Dan Jancevski sent the puck to Yanick Lehoux who skated down the side boards. Lehoux fed a pass out front to Ryan White, who banged the puck past Glass. Jancevski’s assist was his 63rd as a Bulldog. He is now tied with Ron Hainsey for all-time assists by a Bulldogs defenceman.
The Bulldogs scored two goals in the final frame to take a 4-1 lead. Yannick Weber received the puck from Maxwell before blasting a shot that sailed through traffic and past Glass. Kyle Chipchura sent a pass to Mathieu Aubin, who snapped a shot past Glass for the Bulldog’s fourth goal. Weber’s goal was his 10th of the season and places him in a four-way tie for most goals by a Bulldogs defenceman in one season.
Following the goal, Binghamton replaced Jeff Glass with Mitch O’Keefe.
The B-Sens cut the lead in half at 13:27 of the third stanza. Matt Carkner hammered a shot from the right point. Josh Hennessy tipped the puck out of mid-air and past Desjardins to make the game 4-2. Ilya Zubov made the game 4-3 at 18:03 of the final frame. Zubov received the puck after a faceoff win and fired a shot that sailed past Desjardins.
Kyle Chipchura blasted a shot from his own zone that went the length of the ice and into the empty night at 19:15 to secure a 5-3 win for Hamilton.
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
1. BNG – Josh Hennessy – 11 (Mattias Karlsson, Ilya Zubov) – 11:53 (PP)
2nd Period:
2. HAM – Ben Maxwell – 13 (David Desharnais, Mike Glumac) – 1:28
3. HAM – Ryan White – 10 (Yanick Lehoux, Dan Jancevski) – 16:08
3rd Period:
4. HAM – Yannick Weber – 10 (Ben Maxwell, David Desharnais) – 8:45 (PP)
5. HAM – Mathieu Aubin – 5 (Kyle Chipchura, Ryan Russell) – 9:11
6. BNG – Josh Hennessy – 12 (Matt Carkner) – 13:27
7. BNG – Ilya Zubov – 12 (Danny Bois, Matt Carkner) – 18:03
8. HAM – Kyle Chipchura – 11 (Unassisted) – 19:15 (EN)
Scoring:
Hamilton: 0-2-3-5
Binghamton: 1-0-2-3
Shots:
Hamilton: 3-11-14–28
Binghamton: 9-14-12–35
Goaltending:
Hamilton: Cedrick Desjardins (35 shots, 32 saves)
Binghamton: Jeff Glass (22 shots, 18 saves), Mitch O’Keefe (5 shots, 5 saves)
Power Play:Hamilton: 1-for-4
Binghamton: 1-for-3
Three Stars:
1. HAM – Ben Maxwell (1 goal, 1 assist, +1, 3 shots)
2. BNG – Josh Hennessy (2 goals, 3 shots)
3. HAM – Yannick Weber (1 goal, -1, 4 shots)
Flamboro Downs Workhorse: David Desharnais
Habster:
David Descharnais,Yannick Weber and Ben Maxwell are playing extremely well lately and have been carrying the offensive load for the Hamilton Bulldogs.
Ben Maxwell is the hottest Bulldog, scoring 14 points (G-6 A-8) in the last 13 games since he was demoted back to Hamilton on December 31st after a brief seven games stint with the Habs. It also doesn’t hurt his stats that he plays a ton of minutes on the Bulldogs’ powerplay which is currently ranked as the #2 PP in the AHL with a 20.9% efficiency rating.
Maxwell isn’t the only Bulldogs player who is on a roll of late.
David Desharnais is once again proving that it’s the size of your heart and skill set which determines a player’s destiny, not necessarily his physical stature. The pint sized center (he is listed at 5’6″ 180lb) is proving many naysayers wrong with a solid first season at the AHL.
Descharnais has 12 points (G-2 A-10) in his last 11 games and is presently tied for second place in AHL rookie scoring with Maxwell with 33 points.
Not to be left out of the success being enjoyed by rookie Bulldogs, Yannick Weber is another player who is excelling at the pro level in his first full year.
Weber has also been playing well of late with 7 points (G-2 A-5) in 7 games. He is Hamilton’s leading scorer among defensemen with 25 points (G-10 A-15) in 38 games.He is also ranked eighth among all AHL defensemen in scoring which is quite an accomplishmennt for a rookie player.
It’s great to see that the rookies are playing extremely well and playing important roles in the Bulldogs success thus far. It truly bodes well for the future success of the Canadiens organization.