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Game Notes: 1/18/08 v. Binghamton Senators
Crunch Sentenced by Senators
Binghamton, NY (January 18, 2008) – The Syracuse Crunch fell to the Binghamton Senators tonight, 6-3 at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena in front of 3, 644 fans.
The Crunch made the one hour and fifteen minute excursion down I-81 hoping for a fast start to the game. Binghamton was looking for that as well, but neither got their wish. The first ten minutes of the game saw only a combined three shots and some stifling defensive play from both clubs.
The game continued that way until the 18:17 mark of the period when Syracuse scored the game’s first goal. Tom Sestito led a nice rush up the ice, cut to the left side and found an open Derek MacKenzie streaking down the middle. MacKenzie wristed a shot that found its way through a screened Brian Elliott and into the top corner for a 1-0 Crunch lead.
Night and day is how you can describe the difference in action from the second stanza to the first. There were five goals scored in the period.
Binghamton tied the game five and a half minutes in when Justin Mapletoft’s shot from a scramble in front snuck just underneath the crossbar to tie the game 1-1. The goal was originally not counted, the linesmen got together with referee Terry Koharski and ruled that the puck went in.
Binghamton took a 3-2 on the power play at the 11:14 mark. Tyler Donati found Lawrence Nycholat in the high slot. Nycholat fired a wrister past Crunch starter Adam Munro.
The B-Sens went up 3-1 just two minutes later. Andrei Nikulin sprung Nick Foligno on a breakaway and Foligno made a nice move to his forehand to beat Munro.
The Crunch stormed back and scored twice to tie the game before the period was over. Syracuse notched a power play marker at the 13:16 mark when Zenon Konopka found a rebound in front of a Joakim Lindstrom shot and slid a backhand underneath Elliott to cut the Crunch’s deficit to 3-2.
Konopka struck again with four minutes remaining in the period when he broke in with Adam Pineault and elected to shoot from the off-wing. Konopka’s wrist shot sliced just inside the far post to tie the game 3-3.
The third period started with a Binghamton goaltending change as Jeff Glass replaced Brian Elliott.
Denis Hamel gave Binghamton back the lead three and a half minutes in when he skated down the left side and sniped a shot over the right shoulder of Munro.
Binghamton took a 5-3 lead at the 11:44 mark when Shawn Weller notched just his third of the season. A rebound popped up in the air, came down onto Weller’s stick blade and he batted it past Munro.
Hamel added an empty-netter with 1:11 remaining and Binghamton skated away with the 6-3 victory.
CRUNCHABLES: Zenon Konopka’s two-goal effort was his second two-goal game this season…His first came in a five-point effort December 15 vs. Hamilton…The Crunch power play came in tonight as the third ranked power play in the league at 20.8%...Joakim Lindstrom had two assists tonight and now has 3 points (1g, 2a) in 2 games since being assigned by Columbus on Tuesday.