BDevils’ Colton White’s Game-Winner in OT Sinks Toronto Marlies 4-3

Nick Saracino scored two powerplay goals while Cam Johnson made 20 saves as the Binghamton Devils defeated the Toronto Marlies 4-3 in OT at The Floyd on Saturday night. The Devils saw a two-goal lead blow up in the third period only to come back in the three-on-three action when Colton White was able to poke in his own rebound past goalie Eamon McAdam for the game-winner.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak as the team hopped the bus right after for a 3:00 matinee with the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday.

Photo provided by Alicia Strauch

John Ramage opened up with the only goal in the first period as he snapped the puck off the skate of Steve Oleksy near the crease for his 11th of the season.

In the second, Binghamton would take a 3-1 lead as Saracino went to work on the PP. Brandon Gignac’s shot was stopped but Saracino was positioned at McAdam’s doorstep and scored his fifth of the season. Then, on an identical play that occurred, John Ramage’s snapper from inside the blueline was stopped but again Saracino was there parked near the crease for the rebound.

Toronto finally was able to get on the board on a backhanded shot off the stick of Jeremy Bracco with a 1:07 remaining in the period that caught the crossbar over Johnson’s shoulder. Devils would own the shots with 19 compared to just six for the Marlies in the middle frame and 25-14 overall.

In the third Toronto scored twice to tie it as Colt Conrad sent a wrister from the circle that eluded Johnson’s glove. With 5:00 left and Gignac in the box on a tripping call, Chris Mueller would get the deflection in the slot from a shot by Jeremy Bracco as Johnson had no chance of stopping.

In the OT Blake Pietila fed a backhanded pass from along the wall to White in the hash marks. His first shot caught a defender in front as the puck caught the toe of McAdam but White was able to extend his stick for the rebound for the game-winner.

Line-Up, Game #72

Forwards: Tangradi - Schmelzer - Lappin, Pietila - Larsson - Studenic, Baddock - Sharangovich - Saracino, Krushelnyski - Gignac - Dudek

Defensemen: White/Ramage, Groleau/Jacobs, Sissons/Gryba

In Goal: Cam Johnson, Evan Cormier

Scratches: Brian Strait, Eddie Lack, Blake Speers, Nikita Popugaev, John Quenneville, Ryan Murphy and Tariq Hammond

Post Game Notes

• JQ injured during Friday night’s loss in WBS and Hammond was a healthy scratch. Defenceman Jérémy Groleau made his pro debut after signing a three-year, entry-level contract back in Sept of 2018. He just finished his season with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the QMJHL and should be a fixture on the blueline next season for the BDevils. We’ll see what he has in the remaining 4 games of the season.
• Devils’ powerplay was on point for both the first and second units going 2/4. The Devils didn’t have a call against them until the final period with 3 including onset penalties to Eric Gryba and Nicholas Baptiste.
• Johnson again with a strong outing making some really good stops but there was one particular save that took place on the other end of the ice by McAdam. In the third with the Devils up by a goal and looking for more, Nick Lappin took a shot from within the perimeter but was denied on a tumbling kick save by McAdam as he was on his back and was able to swing his leg out keeping the puck safely away.
• The game went without much drama with the exception during warm-ups. As the two teams circled their zones Johnson shot a puck to Olesky that hit him as he was stretching. His reaction can’t be repeated here but clearly, he was upset. Brandon Baddock skated cross-ice and was ready to challenge Olesky to a fight before others interjected to end it. Perhaps some bad blood in the past between Olesky or Johnson as I’ll look into it on a future post.
• White has continued to show improvement as I included a profile of him that recently ran for the Bites this past week.

Three Stars

#1. Colton White (1g), #2. Nick Saracino (2g), #3. Chris Mueller (1g, 1a)

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Upcoming Games

The weekend concludes on Sunday as Binghamton takes on the Wolf Pack in Hartford .