BDevils Shutout For The Second Straight Night

2017 has not been kind for Binghamton and its new hockey club.

Syracuse Crunch rookie goalie Connor Ingram came up with 29 saves to secure a 5-0 win over the Devils for his second career shutout in six games in the annual New Year’s Eve contest held in Binghamton on a chilly Sunday. On top of that, three forwards left the game on various occasions with injuries.

Binghamton (10-17-4-1) was shutout for the second time in the last 24 hours by an identical score on Saturday in Bridgeport to extend their scoreless streak to 134:32 dating back to the third period in Wednesday’s win over Charlotte. Home ice hasn’t been very friendly either for the Binghamton Devils this season as they fell to 5-9-2-0.

Photo provided by Alicia Strauch

Syracuse (18-12-1-2) broke loose for four goals in the third period as Devils’ netminder Mackenzie Blackwood made his first start since giving up five goals in Hershey on Dec 23rd as his record fell to 4-10-3-1. His 32 save performance tonight kept the Devils in it with the Crunch up 1-0 after two periods, but collapsed in the final twenty minutes that sent the team to their eighth loss in the last ten games.

Like I mentioned, it was a one goal difference after 40 minutes with a goal by forward Matthew Peca that beat Blackwood short side from the circle in the first period for his seventh of the season. However, Binghamton found themselves short three forwards as Blake Speers (upper body), Kevin Rooney (lower body) and Nathan Bastian (lower body) all were missed within the final period as the shorthanded bench didn’t help matters much.

Syracuse got two goals each from a pair of rookies as forwards Mitchell Stephens and Alexander Volkov found the back of the net on just ten Crunch shots that sent the large holiday crowd to the exits early. Shots ended up 37-29 for the Crunch.

Line-Ups

Forwards; Quenneville-Latta-Lappin, Kearns-Rooney-Bastian, Baddock-Kennedy-Speers, Thomson-Pietila-Mandat. Defensemen; Strait-Jacobs, White-MacDonald, Kapla-Dyblenko. In Goal; Mackenzie Blackwood. Back up; Ken Appleby. Scratches; Austin Cangelosi (inj.), Brandon Gignac (inj.), Viktor Loov (inj.) Michael Kapla and Kevin Morris (healthy). Rooney, Strait and Kearns with the A’s.

Random Post Game Notes

• Rooney was hurt blocking a shot when the score was 4-0 in the 3rd. Speers was injured at the conclusion of the 1st period after a hit on Carter Verhaeghe and Bastian suffered a leg injury in the middle frame. John Quenneville also was banged up after Erik Cernak sent him into the boards 37 seconds into the game, but continued to play with a welt under his eye.
• Blackwood was left facing several three on one rushes and quite a few missed scoring opportunities by the Crunch including a post, as this game could’ve easily been 7 or 8 to zip.
• Binghamton defense was poor. I really wish we had not given up on Scott Wedgewood as we could’ve seen Dalton Prout instead of how it had played out. It’s easy to look back now, but I was really counting on Prout to help secure the blue-liners.
• Syracuse had a ton of block shots as they did a great job in clogging up the lanes throughout the night. Can’t say the same for the Devils as the Crunch pounded the net hard giving Blackwood no chance on several goals.
• A couple of positives was the play of Jan Mandat and Blake Pietila, along with JQ gutting it out with a face bruise. Mandot was a ball of energy in his hustle on the forecheck while Pietila recorded three shots on the PK during a stretch in the second period.

Three Stars

#1.) Connor Ingram (29 saves), #2.) Alexander Volkov (2g), #3.) Matthew Peca (1g)

Video Highlights

N/A

Upcoming Games

The Senators and Devils will have a home-and-home series beginning Wednesday in Belleville, followed on Friday in Binghamton.

~ Happy New Year!