The Syracuse Crunch scored three unanswered goals in the third as Binghamton got off to a sluggish start, only to recover, but eventually would have the wheels fall off and lose the contest by a score of 4-1 at the Broome County Arena. The B-Sens had a frustrating night as if they couldn’t beat Crunch netminder Riku Helenius, they found the post instead on two different occasions. The physical game was there as Binghamton was relentless in laying down some big hits against Syracuse for a change instead of the reverse.
GAME RE-CAP
-1st period
The Sens didn’t get the start they wanted in the first as they were beaten to the puck by a hungrier team. With Jim O’Brien in the box for boarding Syracuse got on the score sheet first at the 9:48 mark as Arten Sergeev scored from the slot by a pass from Tanner Richard to take a 1-0 lead. Mark Borowiecki caught a rut in the ice and fell leading to the 2 on 1 against Nathan Lawson. J.T. Brown would lay Boro into the boards near the end of the period and B-Sens gathered around including Lawson. Boro was shaken up as Brown gets a 5 minute major that would carry over into the 2nd. Syracuse outshot Bingo 14-5.
-2nd period
Sens did not score on the pp but played a much better period as the physical game took over and became more apparent with Bingo having the advantage in hits. Shane Prince gets the B-Sens on the board with their only goal on the pp by deflecting a Chris Wideman shot from the blue line and then that went off a Syracuse player past Helenius at 17:23. The Sens had their chances as Prince earlier hit the post from the left circle. Also hitting the post was a wide open Buddy Robinson in the slot as he pounced on a rebound that hit Helenius’s shoulder and directed right to the post that was a bullet labeled a goal. Bingo trails in shots 23-16.
-3rd period
Too many odd man rushes lead to Syracuse breaking the tie at 2:34 as Vladislav Namestnikov scored his 3rd of the season from the slot with tic tac toe passes from Nikita Kucherov and Matt Taormina. The Crunch would add to their lead at 9:15 as Kucherov scored his 5th goal of the season on a pretty pass from Brown for another two on one. Syracuse’s final goal saw a streaking Cedric Paquette as he found the net on Lawson’s short side for the 4-1 lead at 15:38 of the period.
Then the rough stuff started as Darren Kramer took matters into his own hands and tries to fight three different Syracuse players as they turtled away. Soon after, Ben Blood leveled pesk Philippe Paradis to the crowd’s delight near center ice and as he skated away Geoff Walker shook off the gloves and fights Blood as Walker handled him to the ice. Corey Cowick‘s turn as he also wants to send a message towards the end of the game by skating into the crease of Helenius and bumping into him resulting in a corner melee with both teams and no punches thrown. As Cowick skates off the Syracuse bench begins chirping at Corey as he smiles it off with a few hand gestures. ‘Cuse wound up ending with a 32-27 shot advantage for the game.
NOTES
– It was the most physical B-Sens have played so far this season as they distributed some vicious hits on the Crunch.
– Bingo’s defense wasn’t in sinc for the most part and Cody Ceci made some blind passes in his zone that cost some turnovers. He has to be stronger with the puck especially in his zone.
– Syracuse wasn’t necessarily the better team tonight just that they made their chances count. At times Binghamton controlled play and looked good but couldn’t find the back of the net.
– Robinson continues to prove he’s needed in the everyday line up and it shows. The guy has a rocket of a shot and has been effective in all his games he’s played so far.
– Bingo was 1 for 4 on the pp and 5 for 6 on the pk.
3 STARS OF THE GAME
#1 Kucherov (1g 1a)
#2 Namestnikov (1g)
#3 Prince (1g)
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HIGHLIGHTS (10-19-13)
Next Game: Sunday at Bridgeport Sound Tigers.