Schneider, Prince Lead Binghamton Senators Comeback Past Norfolk

Shane Prince and Cole Schneider both had a three-point night leading the Binghamton Senators in scoring three unanswered goals after being down 3-1, for a 4-3 comeback win past the Norfolk Admirals. Despite the return featuring a goal by Zack Smith, the center of attention was the first line consisting of Carter Camper, Schneider and Prince as they combined for seven points as they begin the long weekend of play.

GAME RECAP

Senators find themselves in a hole just over three minutes in as the Admirals jump to a 1-0 lead off the tip in by defenseman Nathan McIver as he redirects a shot past Scott Greenham from rookie Jaycob Megna along the side wall. Then veteran netminder Jason LaBarbera gloves a wrist shot taken by defenseman Chris Wideman in the slot then stops Derek Grant‘s re direct attempt in the crease.

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Norfolk tags another one with Max Friberg barreling into Prince knocking him down at the blue line sending the puck loose as forward Mike Sgarbossa scoops in and creates a two on one rush with Stefan Noesen and elects to shoot beating Greenham stick side making it 2-0. Mark Fistric knocks Ryan Dzingel into the boards for a penalty and Senators take advantage with Cole Schneider finding Prince alone in the circle and scores from a sharp angle with 38 seconds left in the first.

Into the second with Norfolk in front 2-1, Friberg scores his 11th of the season with a slapper right inside the circle near the dot to increase their lead to two. On the ensuing faceoff, Darren Kramer drops the gloves with Josh Manson and gets clocked with a few rights then loses his balance and skates to the locker room afterwards.

Binghamton reduces the Norfolk lead by one as rookie forward Max McCormick’s wrist shot is bobbled by LaBarbera and the puck comes loose in front with Smith crashing in and chipping it home over his shoulder. LaBarbera then mishandled Schneider’s snap shot from inside the circle as the puck trickles off

the goaltender’s arm and in just inside the far post to tie up the game at three a piece as LaBarbera is having a tough go at it this evening.

Brand new hockey game heading into the third tied 3-3 with the Senators applying offensive pressure on one end while Greenham makes a couple of nice saves on Ads Captain Dave Steckel on the other. Prince and Grant both miss open nets on the rebounds, but the two would soon connect for the winning goal.

Grant hustles to the puck heading behind the net beating Norfolk’s defenseman Manson and ships it to Prince in front as he scores his second of the game giving the Senators their only lead of the night. With LaBarbera now pulled for the extra attacker for Norfolk, Greenham saves the game showing a great glove on Manson’s wrist shot from the slot as the Senators hang on for the win.

NOTES & OBSERVATIONS

• In the first period two fights were featured as Alex Guptill jumped in after Fistric boarded Dzingel but the two never got any real punches off. The one that did is when Guillaume Lepine knocked John Kurtz down with several rights to the head as Kurtz was late to the party with Lepine getting the win.
• Zack looked fairly well in his first game since last Dec, must’ve been a strange experience in his first time back to where he won a Calder Cup ring four seasons ago. Smith broke into the pros with Peter Regin in 2008 as Regin is currently playing for the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs.
• Kramer didn’t return after his second period fight as he looked to be a little groggy skating off the ice heading for the locker room although under his own power.
• Senators had the better of the game’s shots with a 35-31 advantage and finished 1/3 on the power play.
• Grant had a strong game back after sitting a few with a slight groin injury.

B-SENS LINES

Forwards – Prince-Camper-Schneider, Smith-D Grant-Robinson, Kramer-McCormick-Mills, Guptil-Dzingel-Hobbs

Defense – Claesson-Rutkowski, Johnson-Mullen, Lepine-Wideman

Out – Matt Tassone, Alex Grant and David Dziurzynski, all injured. Mike Sdao, Danny New and Garrett Thompson, all healthy.

UP NEXT

Senators are away on Saturday down in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area to tackle the Penguins.

*Cover Pic & Inserts Courtesy of SenShot’s Photographer Alicia Strauch