Jeff Zatkoff Leads W/B-S Pens Over Binghamton Senators
By Jeff Ulmer
Penguins starter Jeff Zatkoff made 26 saves and Dominik Uher had a three-point night as Wilkes/Barre-Scranton defeats the Binghamton Senators 4-1, sending them to their 13th loss in the last 16. With the team amidst a six game road series, Senators fall to 1-6-1 away from home since Jan 1st as the season plays out.
GAME RECAP
Just 43 seconds in Pens find themselves on the power play with Alex Grant in the box for cross-checking but shortly after Penguins’ Captain Tom Kostopoulos gets the whistle for hooking. On the ensuing four on four play, W/B-S strikes first on a two on one rush with Dominik Uher’s snipe beating Scott Greenham shoulder-high for a 1-0 lead.
More from Belleville Senators
- Belleville Senators: What To Expect In 2023-24
- David Bell Officially Appointed as Belleville Head Coach
- What To Expect From Ottawa Senators’ Pending UFA’s
- BREAKING: Belleville Senators sign Ryan Bednard to PTO
- Belleville Senators acquire Graham McPhee
Zatkoff makes several good saves on Matt Puempel and Shane Prince as play is fairly even. But Senators find themselves in a two goal hole when Uher scores his second with his wrist shot on a sharp angle clipping the far post and into the back of the net. Greenham now settling in with a kick save on Carter Rowney but damage is done as Senators need to solve Zatkoff in the second.
Pens start out strong in the second period testing Greenham often and score on the power play at 17:28, when Conor Sheary takes a Kostopoulos pass and quickly shoots from the top of the circle beating Greenham for a 3-0 lead. Binghamton finally finds a way to get one as Aaron Johnson takes advantage on a Kostopoulos pass turnover and scores on a breakaway to cut the lead to two giving the Sens something to build on for the third period.
Senators with a late penalty in the second carries over into the third but were able to kill it. More Zatkoff as he flashes the leather on Alex Guptill’s shot from the circle. Senators power play yields nothing and looked poor as they fail to set up any offensive opportunities. W/B-Scranton tacks on another one as Bobby Farnham and Matia Marcantuoni skate to an odd man rush as Farnham shoots into the empty net with Greenham drawn out of position making it a 4-1 final. Shots end up 31-27 Pens.
NOTES & OBSERVATIONS
- Uher unbelievable 2nd goal as he was shooting just before skating wide over the goal line finding a hole somewhere with the puck having eyes for the net.
- Penalty problems persisted as Binghamton was whistled 7 times in the first two periods.
- Senators continue their poor play on the power play going 0/2 and have fallen down to 4th best in the league where they have been in 2nd for some time now.
- Greenham looked shaky at times having problems with the glove although with so many odd man rushes it’s tough to lay all the blame on him.
B-SENS LINES
Forwards – Puempel-D Grant-Prince, Greening-Camper-Schneider, Guptill-Dzingel-Robinson, Kramer-Mills-Thompson
Defense – Claesson-A Grant, Johnson-Tuzzolino, Lepine-Wideman
Out – Mike Sdao, Patrick Mullen, Max McCormick and David Dziurzynski, all injured. Daniel New, healthy.
UP NEXT
Senators head to Allentown for a 7:05 pm puck drop against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Friday.