Binghamton Snaps Winless Streak By Sticking It To Syracuse 5-2

A determined B-Sens team finally got the elephant off its back with a resounding 5-2 win against their favorite foes in Syracuse. The Senators wound up scoring five unanswered goals after falling behind early in the contest. Nathan Lawson  shook some first period rust and cruised for his ninth win as the Sens had a solid defensive effort in front of him. This is win number five in six games against the Crunch this season with four more to be played.

RECAP

Sens get the quick jump off the faceoff as Mark Borowiecki shoots his own rebound into the goal just after he dislodged the net off of its posts. Video review results in a no goal call. Shane Prince gets the Senators into early penalty trouble and pays for it as the Crunch get on the board first Brett Connolly picks up the rebound from a Matt Taormina shot from the point for the power play tally.

Mike Hoffman breaks out and shoots one that trickles by Kristers Gudlevskis but Taormina gets a stick on it just before the puck crosses the goal line. Right after, Dana Tyrell barrels in on Lawson as the two go down while Connolly shoots the puck into the net but it’s waved off. Lawson appears to be shaken up on the play but remains in the game. Syracuse gets their second pp goal of the period when Cedric Paquette finds a wide open net from Jon DiSalvatore‘s (making his Crunch debut) pass from the side of the cage as Paquette was planted all alone by Lawson’s left. 2-0 Syracuse after one.

Off into the second as Gudlevskis makes a couple of outstanding saves on Jim O’Brien and Hoffman. That would change when Fredrik Claesson scores his first goal of the season with a timed slapper off of the faceoff win by Derek Grant that beats Gudlevskis. Then Andre Pettersson fires a hard backhander but its Gudlevskis with the glove save. Soon after the whistle is blown Philippe Paradis goads Borowiecki into a quick fight behind Lawson in the crease as Boro gets some shots on Paradis that sets him back on his heals but recovers and wrestles Boro down to the ice.

Hoffman ties up the game by batting in the puck mid-air off of a Stephane Da Costa shot past Gudlevskis and into the net for a 2-2 game. Hoffman timed it perfectly before taking the baseball swing and made sure the blade of his stick was below his shoulders. Sens are out shooting the Crunch 18-15 after two.

Under way in the third period as the Senators go on a four-minute power play thanks to Eric Neilson  bumping into Lawson for the interference call and breaks his stick on the net showing his displeasure in the process and receives the ugly unsportsmanlike conduct. Binghamton follows up with the go ahead goal by Mark Stone burying the rebound past Gudlevskis from a shot off of Hoffman’s blast from the blue line. Later, Lawson would save the game with an awesome stop on Joey Mormina‘s shot from the high slot.

O’Brien would  nail his third of the season with a hard slapper from the high circle mark that had goal written all over it. JOB showed determination on that one, 4-2 Sens. Syracuse pulls Gudlevskis, but soon after Dziurzynski intercepts a defenseman’s pass and skates down to the open net and cradles it in for the Senators fifth unanswered goal of the game. Celebration ensues as the Senators are all smiles congratulating each other around Lawson and feeling relief the streak is finally over.

NOTES

•  Syracuse breaks a 0-26 drought by scoring two power play goals tonight. This is also their first regulation loss of the season after scoring first (10-1-1-2).
• This would have been a disheartening loss for the Senators if it went that way. The boys played hard and played not desperate hockey, but determined, as the club wanted to get this one in the win column. Although true to form, they had a bad penalty to start the first that sent them to a familiar position early in the game being down by a goal after getting an early jump.
• Binghamton outshoots Syracuse 36-20 and continues to average 37 shots during their last eight games. You could feel the ice breaking on the streak after tonight’s Sens power plays, as they were sharp and consistent with their passes and had good looks on Gudlevskis all night long.

3 STARS OF THE GAME

• #1 Hoffman (1g 1a)
• #2 Wideman (3a)
• #3 Paquette (1g 1a)

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HIGHLIGHTS

N/A

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