Binghamton evens series with Monarchs

MANCHESTER, NH. — Binghamton rookie forward Derek Grant buried a goal at 4:03 of overtime as the Senators collected a critical 3-2 road win over Manchester on Friday at the Verizon Wireless Arena, evening their Atlantic Division semifinal at a game apiece. It marked the first career playoff goal for Grant, a fourth-round draft pick by the Ottawa Senators in 2008. The Abbotsford, B.C., native, who turns 21 years old next Wednesday, recorded six points (1-5-6) in 14 regular-season games for Binghamton after completing his college season at Michigan State University. After a scoreless first period, Manchester got going quickly in the second with goals from Tyler Toffoli (2:16) and Justin Azevedo (9:09). Toffoli, who had notched his first professional goal in the Monarchs’ regular-season finale at Providence, scored on the power play. The Senators came back to take the lead in the third period, though, and Ryan Potulny began the rally at 1:07 with his second goal in as many games. Regular-season team goal-scoring leader Ryan Keller (32-19-51) followed a little over four minutes later, and Kaspars Daugavins put the B-Sens on top with a power play marker at the 8:59 mark. Monarchs defenseman Jake Muzzin forced overtime when he scored with just 1:02 left in regulation. Azevedo picked up an assist on the play to cap a three-point effort (1-2-3). Defenseman Patrick Coulombe earned the lone helper on Grant’s game-winner, as Binghamton hated a five-game losing skid in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Sens goaltender Barry Brust , who appeared in 53 games for the Monarchs during the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, earned the victory with 26 saves on 29 shots on net. The best-of-seven series now shifts to Binghamton for the next three contests, beginning with Game 3 on Sunday at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena.
Comment@prohockeynews.com

Leave a Comment