Silver Nuggets: Binghamton goes for sweep; Another hypothetical trade

The Binghamton Senators are on the verge of their first ever Calder Cup Finals appearance as they took a 3-0 series lead after a 7-1 win last night. Zack Smith had a hat trick and Robin Lehner stopped 37 of 38 shots in the win. Smith is now tied for fourth in the AHL playoffs with 16 points. What is amazing is that while the Baby Senators are one win away from winning the Eastern Conference, they still have a losing record at home in the playoffs, having won 3 out of 7 home games. By comparison, they are 8-1 on the road.

I mentioned this yesterday, but it is worth mentioning again, Robin Lehner now has a 9-2 record in the playoffs with a 2.41 GAA, 0.932 save percentage and 2 shutouts. He also has allowed one goal or less in four out of his last six starts. It also is worth mentioning that while Binghamton has scored tons of goals, they have also allowed tons of chances, being outshot every game in this series for a total of 113-85 in the first three games.

Here are today's links, brought to you by Adnan, the official writer of the Silver Nuggets.

General Sens News

• While Sens fans were discussing a hypothetical trade for Rick Nash, the Columbus fans are having a similar discussion over acquiring Jason Spezza to play with Rick Nash in Columbus. (Jackets Cannon)
• Reaction from last night's big 7-1 win by Binghamton. (Press & Sun-Bulletin)
• Hockey's Future ranks the Senators as having the 16th best prospects in the NHL now, which is exactly where they were in November, 2010. This ranking should improve with the plethora of picks the Senators own in the upcoming draft. (Hockey's Future)

More after the jump.

General Hockey News

• While I personally would love for most southern clubs to move up north, here is a look at the negative impact the loss of southern NHL teams would have on the growth of hockey down there. Nothing surprising, but still worth reading. (United States of Hockey)
• Bob Boughner steps down as an assistant coach at Columbus. Is he another candidate for the Sens? I don't know anything about him though. (Damien Cox)
• The departing president of the Montreal Canadiens talks about how cultural pressures on hiring French speaking general managers, coaches as well as players, places the Canadiens at a disadvantage. (Yahoo!)