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Impact Players: Sirota, McAnanama, Wieber May 3, 2025 | ||
Posted by: Bob Howard Credit: Binghamton Hockey.net | ||
May 3, 2025 - by Taylor Welch - BinghamtonHockey.net Through 27 minutes of gameplay, the one and only goal of the game would come from Zac Sirota. 13 minutes into the 2nd period, the Black Bears would come in on sides where Nick Swain would take the first shot, initially saved by Boris Babik, but a rebound presented itself in front of Sirota, who was able to knock it in, and though it wasn't known at the time would put the Black Bears up by 2 in the series. I think it is also worth mentioning that his goal came at even strength. There were many opportunities for both teams to score shorthanded and with an extra attacker, and yet no one did. Sirota has a great presence in front of the net and has the ability to be in the right place at the right time, and that's where that goal came from. He has been a player that you can put on the ice to mess with the opposing team to get into their heads, and after last night's game, I thought for sure they would be going after him more. In the first period, you can hear, I believe, Cole say that Sirota was making life difficult for the Thunderbirds and that is the style of play he always has, and he excels at it. The energetic, fast-paced style of play while keeping a cool head when push comes to shove has had crucial moments in these games. Carolina came out firing this game compared to how they played last night, but that made no difference for our netminder. Connor McAnanama earned his 4th shutout in the playoffs, saving all 42 shots on goal and facing almost 10 more shots than last night. His big save in the first period happened with 1:20 left to go while being run into by Gavin Yates and Zach White, knocking McAnanama down, but just because he's down doesn't mean you count him out, as he makes a huge glove save against Gus Ford. The second period would see White take the puck in one-on-one with Dan Stone, where McAnanama would make an easy save. The biggest save of the game would come later in that period, under 3 minutes to go. Dawson Baker would take a shot through traffic where it would go between Clay Keeley and Dakota Bohn, making its way through the 5 hole of McAnanama across the blue paint near the goal line, but McAnanama saw this and had the quick reaction to lay across the goal line and poke the puck out of play. Another big save would come 12 minutes into the 3rd, where Ford would get a breakaway and come in shorthanded but still be denied any chance of finding the back of the net. McAnanama has proven time and time again that he is a brick wall, so much so that even with all the hate that Binghamton gets from other fan bases, they are still recognizing how great of a goalie Connor McAnanama is. I think it's fair to say that the next game the chants that will be ringing through the arena are going to CMAC and Run It Back! He went from breaking his stick in yesterday's game, giving the Thunderbirds the opportunity they needed to proving a point. Dan Wieber came out firing hot and heavy for tonight's game, letting the Thunderbirds know early on that they weren't going to push him around without him pushing back like they did last night. He played a great defensive game, making sure to cover the side of the net McAnanama wasn't on. His best play of the night would come late in the 3rd period with under 5 minutes to go; White and Ford would skate in on a 2-on-1 where Wieber would make the smart play of sliding to block the shot, allowing both Jesse Anderson and Tyson Kirkby to join in the play again, stripping Carolina of any chance they thought they had at scoring. I mentioned yesterday about McAnanama saying, "Let me see the puck or block it," and Wieber has done an excellent job pushing the opposing players out of McAnanama's way, giving him the opportunity to see the puck and being ready and able to block the puck when necessary. Tonight's game was the bigger game of the two played in Winston-Salem and the Black Bears didn't let off gas.
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