Been a blast: Binghamton liveblog

Bridgeport-Binghamton Senators, one last time… not that doing this in mid-May wouldn’t be interesting. We’ve been overly nostalgic about it. Sadly not making the trip, so we’ll have Alan up at AHL Live, with Grady on the other side. We’ll follow Alan, Grady and the BST on Twitter.

This should be the box (Voss, Reneau/Dussureault, Sauda).

Prescout. Guess we won’t be seeing Andrey Pedan tomorrow.

More closer to gametime.

–Fritzless and Pulockless, says the team twitter:

BRIDGEPORT
F: Winquist-Kearns (A)-Bernier (assumed A)
Dal Colle – St. Denis – Ho-Sang
K.Jones-C.Jones-Rowe
Johnston-B.Holmstrom (C)-J.Holmstrom
D: Lafranchise-Cullity
Toews-Burroughs
Landry-Leduc
G: Halak
Williams

–Colin Markison will apparently join Alan in the second period, per Twitter.

BINGHAMTON from the B-Sens’ Twitter
F: Akeson-Varone-Rodewald
McCormick-Paul-Bailey
Perron-Flanagan-Robinson
Krushelnyski-Nehring-Gagne
D: Englund-Kostka
Harpur-Sieloff
Rumble-Carlisle
G: Driedger
Greenham

–The Rangers are honoring Detective Steven McDonald, who became such an integral part of the fabric of that franchise over the past 30 years, tonight. Heard WCBS’ coverage of the very end of McDonald’s funeral today; very moving.

–No score almost midway first. Both goalies have held out a scramble or two.

–A Rodewald shot hits Halak in the helmet. On the Senators’ next rush, a rebound is popped up onto the top of the net; it bounces a couple of times before it falls away harmlessly.

–One of Bridgeport’s better chances comes with a few seconds left in the first; Driedger bats away a shot from an open St. Denis in the left circle. No score after one; shots 14-12 Binghamton.

–Alan calls Halak a “leadership piece,” which I assume means he and I both accidentally absorb phrases from Brent Thompson.

–Binghamton kills off a Rodewald trip of Toews early in the second. It’s been a pretty good pace, some shots, but no score 27 minutes in.

–Markison has, not surprisingly, been very insightful. Connor Jones is cross-checked down in front as his brother fires from the left circle. Second power play, and Landry hits a post off the draw.

–McCormick scores short-handed on a rebound, a right-circle shot kicked to the left circle where McCormick got it and put it quickly back on goal. 1-0 B-Sens at 8:35.

–The Senators have had some long shifts; Halak has been forced to make saves. Then Kellen Jones takes one hard to the net from the left side, and Driedger keeps it out; Connor Jones comes in and gets a smack from Sieloff for his troubles. 3:07 left in the second… and Rowe called for interference. Binghamton’s second power play.

–Bernier called for boarding, hitting Sieloff behind the Binghamton net. A 55-second five-on-three.

–A couple of saves for Halak on the two-man, including one on Rodewald in the slot, and a bit of luck when a backdoor pass bounces off Bailey’s stick.

–Period ends with some discussion in front of Halak’s net, but it settles down. Sens lead 1-0 after two. Shots 11-9 Bridgeport that period, 23-23 in all.

–Varone scores 33 seconds into the third period to give Binghamton a 2-0 lead.

–My video and audio are wildly out of synch for some reason. Finally got a look: A Binghamton chip out of its own zone turned into a three-on-two, a man got around Toews to make it a two-on-one, and Harpur backhanded a pass around a sliding Burroughs to give it to Varone alone.

–Good saves for Halak on Paul and Rumble on a four-on-four. The audio issues have forced me over to Grady, which, well, sorry, Alan, but that feels kind of appropriate as this whole Bridgeport-Binghamton Senators thing comes to a close.

–Halak loses the handle on a rebound as the power plays expire, but the Senators can’t get there. Bridgeport goes the other way, Winquist feeds Bernier for a redirect, and it’s 2-1 Binghamton with about 15 minutes to go. Rowe pulled up at the blue line to let his teammates change; Winquist and Bernier point over to him as they celebrate.

–Bridgeport kills off a Ho-Sang high-stick and nearly hit him for a breakaway out of the box; it hops on him and gets away. Midway third, still Binghamton 2-1.

–Down at the Arena, Justin Danforth scores in overtime to give Sacred Heart a 2-1 win over Holy Cross. They play again there Saturday at 2.

–Kostka called for a slash — away from the puck, a good whack at a Sound Tiger obscured by the ref on replay — to send Bridgeport to its fourth PP with four minutes left.

–Driedger took a Bernier deflection off the mask, held out Winquist and Bernier on a scramble in front, but then gives up a goal short side/glove side to Kearns’ wrister from the right circle. Tied at 2 with, now, under two minutes left.

–Leduc cross-checks Akeson into the end boards with 1:45 to go. Binghamton to its sixth power play, 0-for-5.

–Points for all: Good kill so far, and the Senators and Sound Tigers go to overtime tied at 2. Binghamton has 15 seconds left on that Leduc minor but a draw at center ice.

–At four-on-four after the kill, Buddy Robinson gets free for a partial break. Halak blockers it into the crowd with 4:08 left in overtime. They’ll go to three-on-three.

–Jack Rodewald gets credit for the winner 89 seconds into overtime: Binghamton 3, Bridgeport 2 (OT). St. Denis and Varone got tied up sliding from the Binghamton zone into the neutral zone; Varone recovered more quickly, making it a three-on-two into the Bridgeport end. Varone put it to the middle to Rumble, who gave it back to Varone on the left. Varone put it to the front, where Lafranchise was trying to hold off Rodewald; neither Grady nor I can tell what exactly redirected it in, but there it was.

–Brent Thompson was generally happy. “We competed hard from the first shift to the last shift of overtime,” he said. “We need better rush reads, defensive zone coverage, to score a little more.” He said Dal Colle, Ho-Sang and St. Denis were generating chances, “just a little snake-bitten.”

When Binghamton pushed, he said, “we weathered the storm”; there were things they could tighten up, “stop and starts. At the end of the day we need to score a few more goals, secondary scoring.”

They plan to see how Pulock is tomorrow and play him if he’s feeling good.

More then.

Michael Fornabaio