Binghamton Devils Coast By Belleville Senators 6-1

Binghamton pounded the Belleville Senators 6-1 on Friday behind forward John Quenneville’s four point night and goalie Eddie Lack’s 17 saves in his second consecutive start for the Devils at Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena in downtown Binghamton. Defenseman Jacob MacDonald also contributed three points as the power play went 4/9 while the offense broke loose from the recent slump.

Photo provided by Alicia Strauch

Tim Kennedy got things rolling ealry for the Devils (11-16-4-1) with the first of his three assists that set-up JQ with a shot from near the hash marks that beat BSens’ netminder Marcus Hogberg high, glove side at 5:26 in the first period. That was soon followed by Brandon Baddock’s wrister from the circle for his third of the season on a short pass from Ben Thomson.

Michael Latta put the BDevils up by three with his fifth with a wrist shot that found the back of the net short side past Hogberg for one of three power play tallies for Binghamton in the middle frame. JQ and Jacob MacDonald each scored 1:26 apart with identical one-timers from near the blueline with the man advantage and the rout was on for the Devils that ended the night for Hogberg.

Photo provided by Alicia Strauch

The two teams exchanged a pair of goals in the final twenty minutes as rookie defenseman Christian Jaros ruined the shutout bid at 12:54 that made it 5-1, but Nick Lappin answered back with his team-leading 14th on a one-timer that eluded goalie Chris Driedger, who ended up with 10 saves as Hogberg’s replacement.

The Devils held Belleville to just one shot in the third period and overall 34-17 advantage as Lack came up on top for his birthday.

Line-Ups

Forwards; Quenneville-Kennedy-Latta, Pietila-Kearns-Lappin, Baddock-Rooney-Thomson, Morris-Mandat-Wallin. Defensemen; Strait-Jacobs, White-MacDonald, Kapla-Dyblenko. In Goal; Eddie Lack. Back up; Ken Appleby. Scratches; Austin Cangelosi (inj.), Brandon Gignac (inj.), Viktor Loov (inj.), Blake Speers (inj.) and Nathan Bastian (inj.), Dylan Olsen. Kearns, Strait and Rooney with the A’s.

Random Post Game Notes

• Goaltender Lack wasn’t tested often but did come up with several brilliant saves including getting a toe save off a shot from Mike Blunden in the middle frame that brought the home crowd to chants of “Ed-die, Ed-die, Ed-die”. One thing I’ve learned over the years that this town loves a good goalie, no doubt about it.
• Devils with just about a 60 minute effort despite a brief lull at the end of the second period. Lack, a game changer with his cool, collective, confidence in net and excellent puck-handler.
• Quenneville's 10 goals and 10 assists are ready for a call-up. NJ could use a breathe of fresh air during their current four game winless streak and should pull the trigger for a few games if possible.
• BSens’ Head Coach Kurt Kleinendorst was assessed a bench minor at the start of the third period with some choice words addressed to one of the referees as the second period came to an end. I suppose it was related to the number of calls against (7) whereas the BDevils erupted for three goals, all on the power play.
• A fight broke out between Sens’ defenseman Andreas Englund and Devils forward Michael Latta in the 3rd with Latta and the take-down.
• Devils and Sens each end up winning in their respective barns so far with 3 games remaining, 2 in Binghamton in the 6 games on the schedule.
• Jacob MacDonald will join Bracken Kearns for the 2017-’18 All-Star event held in January at Utica, NY as the two BDevils’ representatives.

Three Stars

#1.) John Quenneville (2g, 2a), #2.) Eddie Lack (16 saves), #3.) Jacob MacDonald (1g, 2a)

Video Highlights

Upcoming Games

BDevils will host the Laval Rockets on Saturday to round up the weekend.