Da Costa nets OT winner for Senators

(binghamtonsenators.com) — The Binghamton Senators evened their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with a 4-3 overtime win Saturday night.

Stephane Da Costa notched his second goal of the night 11:07 into the overtime period to complete a Senators comeback from two goals down and send the best-of-five series to Wilkes-Barre tied 1-1.

Chuck Kobasew scored 4:51 into the opening period to give the Penguins the early 1-0 lead.

At 9:09, Chris Wideman ripped a shot from the high slot on the power play to even the score 1-1.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton retook the lead less than two minutes later when Tom Kostopoulos buried a feed from Mike Carman to make it 2-1.

The Penguins built their lead to 3-1 less than two minutes into the second period when Carman slapped home a puck that took an awkward bounce behind the Sens net. The puck was sent around the end boards which then caught a referee’s skate and careened to the left of Andrew Hammond. Hammond never saw the puck and Carman lifted it into the open net.

Da Costa scored Binghamton’s second power-play goal of the night 16:34 into the second to cut the deficit to 3-2 heading into the locker room.

Binghamton’s momentum carried over into the final period of regulation as Mark Stone evened the score at 3-3 just 23 seconds in.

After skating to a stalemate the rest of regulation, the game went to overtime for the second time in as many nights. Each team garnered great scoring opportunities, but Da Costa’s shot from the right wing circle gave the hosts the overtime victory.

Stone had four points (1g, 3a) to go along with Da Costa’s pair of goals to lead the B-Sens offensively. Hammond stopped 23 of 26 shots faced for his first professional playoff victory. Peter Mannino turned aside 24 of 28 in a losing effort for the Penguins, who had won their previous eight playoff games vs. Binghamton.

Game 3 is set for Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre.

Eastern Conference Quarterfinals – Series “C” (best-of-5)
3-Binghamton Senators vs. 6-W-B/Scranton Penguins
Game 1 – Fri., Apr. 25 – W-B/Scranton 3, BINGHAMTON 2 (OT)
Game 2 – Sat., Apr. 26 – BINGHAMTON 4, W-B/Scranton 3 (OT)
Game 3 – Wed., Apr. 30 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
Game 4 – Fri., May 2 – Binghamton at W-B/Scranton, 7:05
*Game 5 – Mon., May 5 – W-B/Scranton at Binghamton, 7:05