(falconsahl.com) – The Springfield Falcons nudged the Binghamton Senators, 6-5, tonight at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena.
The victory advances the Falcons to 19-9-1-0 and keeps the team on top of the Northeast Division with 39 points. The Falcons also take a 1-0-0-0 lead in the two-game season series with the Senators. The Senators are now on a three game losing streak and sit at 12-12-2-1 on the season.
Falcons goaltender Scott Munroe recorded the win, turning away 16 of 17 shots after replacing Anton Forsberg, who stopped 12 of 16. Senators goaltender Scott Greenhamturned aside 14 of 16 shots in defeat after replacing Andrew Hammond. Hammond stopped 10 of 14. Springfield was able to successfully convert on their one power play opportunity, while Binghamton scored on both of their man-advantages.
Binghamton opened scoring at the 7:09 mark and took a two goal lead before getting a response from Springfield in the first period. Daniel New put the Senators on the board with a one-timer from the left circle. Five minutes later, the Senators extended their lead. With Thomas Larkin in the box for tripping, Binghamton struck on the power play. Cole Schneider started the play down in the right corner. He passed the puck up to Chris Wideman at the right point. A cross-slot feed set Alex Grant up for a one-timer from the top of the left circle.
The Falcons finally got on the board with 1:43 remaining in the period. Kerby Rychel passed ahead to Luke Adam to create a two-on-one play with Dana Tyrell. Adam skated the puck across the blue line and fired a rocket from the left wing circle to earn his first goal with the Falcons since being traded to the Columbus organization on Dec. 16.
The Senators scored twice to put the Falcons down, 4-1, early in the middle frame. Just 2:50 in, Schneider passed across the slot to Matt Puempel, who fired a wrist shot from the right circle. Forsberg made the save, but Patrick Mullen picked up the rebound and netted the Senators’ third of the night. Binghamton went up by three just 2:23 later. Shane Prince forced a turnover in the right corner. Carter Camper took control of the loose puck and put a shot on net that flew past Forsberg and chased him from the game.
The Falcons found their stride at the 7:25 mark and started a rally to fight back from a 4-1 deficit. Jaime Sifers took a shot from the right point that was deflected by a Binghamton defender. Josh Anderson grabbed the puck in the circle and let off a shot that surprised Hammond and cut the Senators’ lead to two. Lukas Sedlak earned credit for the secondary assist.
Springfield continued their run at the 14:13 mark. The puck got pushed out to Tyrell, who skated it down the ice on a two-on-zero play with Rychel. After cutting to the net, Tyrell fired a shot that squeezed through Hammond’s pads and across the goal line. Tyrell returned to the line-up for the first time tonight since Nov. 23.
With 40 seconds remaining in the second period, captain Ryan Craig evened the score with the help of Austin Madaisky and T.J. Tynan. While driving to the net, Craig clipped Hammond, sending him to the locker room with what appeared to be a lower body injury. Greenham took his place between the pipes for the Senators.
The Senators took back the lead in the third period, but the Falcons were able to fight back and top the team, 6-5. Just 31 seconds into the final period, Ryan Dzingel split the defense and placed a shot in the top right corner to put Binghamton up, 5-4. Wideman and New picked up points for assisting.
Trent Vogelhuber responded for the Falcons a few minutes later when received a pass from Mike Hoeffel and cut across the crease to stuff the puck five-hole and even the score, 5-5. Larkin picked up his second point of the game on the play.
While on the man-advantage, the Falcons finally took their first lead of the contest with 8:11 remaining. Frederic St. Denis sent the puck down to Marko Dano behind the net. Dano skated it around the cage and fed Rychel, who netted the game-winner from the right circle.
The Falcons were able to hold on to their lead and topped the Senators, 6-5.
