BINGHAMTON, NY — The Binghamton Senators lost to the Houston Aeros by the score of 2-1 and now fall behind two games to one in the Calder Cup Finals. They will try to tie up the series on Friday night as the two teams return back to the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Houston got off to a quick start with a goal 1:08 into the game. Jared Spurgeon fired the puck on goal where Binghamton netminder Robin Lehner allowed a rebound that went to right wing Jon DiSalvatore who lifted the puck up, over and in for the game’s first goal. Left winger Patrick O’Sullivan received the second assist.
Defenseman Nate Prosser added to the lead as scrum for the puck happened in front of the net. DiSalvatore and O’Sullivan got their second points of the game on the helpers as the biscuit bounced around, hit the post, dropped, and was scraped in under the diving Lehner. The Senators were only allowed five shots in the period to the eleven fired by their opponents.
The poor shooting continued in the final period where Binghamton could only manage three shots late into the period. But the Sens were able to halve the score on only two shots. Houston’s Cody Almond was called for an interference penalty and was sent to the box 2:31 in. Twenty-one seconds later, defenseman Andre Benoit ripped a shot towards the net that deflected off Captain Ryan Keller and in on rookie goaltender Matt Hackett.
The Senators fought hard and finally got some quality shots on Hackett but he made two great saves to hold the Aeros lead and eventually the win. Both goaltenders made 28 saves in the game. Hackett faced 29 shots in the win which increased his record to 14-7 in the playoffs. Lehner didn’t do that bad either stopping 30 shots himself.
A crowd of 4,710 watched a physical game that produced only three penalties for each team where the Senators were the only ones to capitalize on the man-advantage. The Three Stars of the Game were 3) Houston’s Patrick O’Sullivan – two assists, 2) Binghamton’s Ryan Keller – one goal, and 1) Houston’s Jon DiSalvatore – one goal and one assist.
Look for Binghamton’s Derek Smith to break out in the scoring column. The Senator’s defenseman has been out since the second game of the first round against the Manchester Monarchs due to injury. He and fellow defenseman Benoit ranked in the top three in the regular season in scoring for defense with 54 and 55 points respectively, he had three shots on goal and an assist in tonight’s game.
2011 Calder Cup Finals HOUSTON vs. BINGHAMTON Houston leads series 2 – 1 Game 1 – Fri May 27 7:35 PM HOUSTON 3, Binghamton 1 Game 2 – Sat May 28 7:35 PM Binghamton 2, HOUSTON 1 OT Game 3 – Wed Jun 1 7:05 PM Houston 2, BINGHAMTON 1 Game 4 – Fri Jun 3 7:05 PM Houston at Binghamton Game 5 – Sat Jun 4 7:05 PM Houston at Binghamton Game 6 – Tue Jun 7 7:00 PM * Binghamton at Houston Game 7 – Thu Jun 9 7:00 PM * Binghamton at Houston
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Contact the writer at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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