BINGHAMTON -- Four first period goals and one goal with just 29 seconds left in regulation proved to be the difference as the Syracuse Crunch fell behind early in their third game in as many nights and never could get their offense going in a 5-0 loss to the Binghamton Senators tonight at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Bobby Butler scored the game’s first goal on the power play for Binghamton when he took a cross-ice pass from Corey Locke and sent a shot just inside the left post to the blocker side of Timo Pielmeier just 2:40 into the game.
Butler notched his second goal of the game just 6:21 later with Locke picking up another assist to make it 2-0 Binghamton. That was followed by two straight goals from Binghamton’s Jim O’Brien, the second coming with 24 seconds left in the first period to stretch the Senators lead to 4-0 after the first period.
J.P. Levasseur replaced Pielmeier after Binghamton’s third goal. Jon Mirasty and Leigh Salters tried to spark the Crunch, with Mirasty battling Francis Lessard just after Binghamton’s second goal and Salters getting five minutes for fighting the Senators’ Tim Spencer shortly after the third goal. The Crunch were outshot 18-11 in the opening frame.
The second period settled down as far as the scoring, but the physical play picked up. Lessard and Maxime Macenauer traded penalties inside the stanza’s first five minutes and the Crunch ended up with a power play after a scrum along the half-boards when Lessard pressed John Kurtz into the glass.
Another confrontation came about with just over two minutes to go in the second when Stu Bickel took out Eric Condra with a clean, open-ice hit. Craig Schira quickly jumped in and he and Bickel were each given five minutes for fighting. Binghamton held a 28-19 shots advantage through 40 minutes of play as the score remained 4-0.
The scored stayed that way until Butler tallied a power play goal on a backhand deke with 29 seconds remaining in regulation for his third of the game to make it a 5-0 final.
CRUNCHABLES: Prior to tonight’s game, the Crunch recalled defenseman Stu Bickel from Elmira (ECHL)…Tonight marked the first loss the Crunch have suffered by more than one goal this season.
Courtesy: Syracuse Crunch
