Hershey Upends Binghamton 5-3

Bears forward Stanislav Galiev scored a hat trick including the game winner and veteran Chris Bourque had a goal and an assist as they led Hershey to a 5-3 win over the Binghamton Senators on Friday night at The Floyd Arena. The loss was the Senators fourth in a row sending them further down the path to the bottom of the North Division with a 18-23-2-1 record and four points behind the fourth place Toronto Marlies.

Hershey (22-13-7-3) found themselves in a earlier hole as Binghamton’s All-Star forward Casey Bailey scored his 11th of the season just 0:49 seconds into the opening twenty minutes. Bears defenseman Hubert Labrie botched a pass from behind the net as the puck bounced loose to Bailey in front, and his turn around wrister went by rookie goaltender Vitek Vanecek that gave the Sens the early lead.

Bears forward Garrett Mitchell would get the equalizer as he skated out from behind the net and sent a backhander that caromed off of defenseman Chris Carlisle’s skate near the crease, and past goaltender Matt O’Connor stick for his sixth tally of the season.

But Binghamton would regain the lead when Max McCormick redirected a wrister by defenseman Chris Rumble from inside the blueline for a rare power play goal and a 2-1 after one.

Hershey took the lead by a pair of goals from Bourque and Galiev in the second period as the Bears relentlessly pressured the Sens that sent them back on their heels for the majority of the second period with a 14-8 shot advantage, as the defense failed to help out with several turnovers.

Galiev scored his second to give Hershey a two goal cushion at the 5:44 mark in the final period as the Bears continued to pressure the Sens. Forward Paul Carey mishandled a rolling puck but was able to recover in time as his short pass from behind the net was sent to Galiev in front for a empty net goal with O’Connor caught out of position.

Rumble made it a 4-3 game to give the Senators some hope with his blast from the blueline had eyes for the net as he beat Vanecek for his second point of the evening and the team’s second power play goal.

However, with time running out Galiev completed the hat trick as he took a pass off the wall and sent the puck up high past O’Connor that secured the win by the visiting Bears.

POST GAME NOTES

• This was the fourth straight contest against a team from the Atlantic Division with all four gone down in defeat. BSens get somewhat of a break on Saturday against the Devils, but after that the next 2 out of 3 are teams again from the Atlantic and on the road.
• O’Connor with a rough night as there were moments when he lost sight of the puck as he had to reach behind him and stop the puck from going in with his glove. At one point he lost his glove and had to check his digits for damage, but luckily he was safe. Wasn’t sharp and looked rusty at times.
• Bailey with a three point night in his first game back from participating in his forst AHL All-Star event last weekend.
• Forward Marc Hagel made his debut for the Sens after his trade that brought him over from the Minnesota Wild organization.
• McCormick-Varone-Akeson, Bailey-Paul-Rodewald, Perron-Blunden-Blunden, Krushelnyski-Flanagan-Hagel. Englund/Harpur, Seiloff/Kostka, Rumble/Carlisle. Lepine and Gagne were healthy scratches./

UPCOMING GAMES

Albany makes a return trip to Binghamton for the first time since the announcement was made of the affiliation change. Should be interesting night for sure for the home fans and their reactions.