BINGHAMTON, NY — So far in this Calder Cup Finals series, the team that scored first carried the momentum to win the game. Tonight’s game was no different as the Binghamton Senators, in front of a capacity crowd at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, defeated the Houston Aeros 3-0 to even the series at two games apiece. Game Five continues here tomorrow night as the Senators can take the series lead.
Binghamton head coach Kurt Kleinendorst made a few tweaks to the lineup and it produced positive results with the fourth line kicking off the scoring tonight. In what originally looked like a Colin Greening shot for the goal which was later changed for a Cody Bass tip-in between the legs of goaltender Matt Hackett for the first tally at 11:48 in the first period. The second assist went to David Dziurzynski.
Houston got a little sloppy in their physical game as they were called for three consecutive penalties and Binghamton took advantage of this as they were on a two-man advantage. Captain Ryan Keller dished a shot to center Corey Locky who was able to get the puck in and over Hackett on a difficult angle at 17:10.
This period definitely saw a difference in the Senators play as the got off 18 shots in the first period against the Aeros eight shots. The score and the offensive shots brought alive the home crowd which carried throughout the game.
Defenseman Derek Smith in his second game back from an injury in the second game of the first round got back on the goal column as he got his first of the layoffs in the third period at 2:19. Locke, the League’s regular season MVP, provide the dish to Smith for the first assist with Erik Condra tagged for the second.
The Binghamton Senators held the Houston Aeros to on 21 shots in the game while almost doubling up on that number with 37 of their own. Hackett was hit with the loss going 34 saves on all those show. Robin Lehner was perfect in goal giving him his third shutout of the playoffs which puts him in front of Ray Emery for the franchise lead in playoff no-nos. The win is his twelfth of the playoffs.
At the 20 minute mark of the third, the game got a little physical as 72 penalty minutes were called. Three players from each team were given a two-minute roughing and a 10-minute game misconduct penalty for the game. Houston’s Justin Falk, Warren Peters, and Nate Prosser along with Binghamton’s Bass, Eric Gryba, and Mike Hoffman were the members of the guilty parties. For the game, the Senators converted 1 of 6 on the power play while the Aeros were 0-3.
The Three Stars of the Game were:
3rd Star – Cody Bass with a goal
2nd Star – Robin Lehner with the shutout
1st Star – Corey Locke with a goal and an assist
2011 Calder Cup Finals HOUSTON vs. BINGHAMTON series tied 2 – 2 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 BINGHAMTON 3, Houston 0 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
(*if necessary)
Contact the writer at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.