The Binghamton Black Bears (2-0) defeated the
Topeka Scarecrows (0-2) Saturday night in
Binghamton to advance to the second round of the playoffs. The Black
Bears wasted no time setting the tone in Game 2, delivering a
dominant opening period in front of a strong home crowd of 4,610 at
the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena. It didn’t take
long for Binghamton to get on the board. At 6:24, CJ Stubbs
opened the scoring with his third goal of the postseason, finishing
a play set up by Mac Jansen and Dan Stone
to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead. Stubbs struck again just over
three minutes later. At 9:44, he buried his second goal of the
game—and fourth of the playoffs—off another setup from Mac
Jansen, along with Ivan Bondarenko,
extending the lead to 2-0 and continuing his red-hot start to the
postseason. Binghamton wasn’t done there. Late in the period,
Zac Sirota added to the surge, scoring his first
goal of the playoffs at 19:35. Dan Stone and
Kyle Stephan picked up the assists on the play,
sending the Black Bears into the intermission with a commanding 3-0
advantage. The Black Bears controlled play throughout the period,
outshooting the Scarecrows 20-6 and dictating the pace in all three
zones. Binghamton did take a pair of penalties, with Nick
Swain (slashing, 6:44) and Camrone Cervone
(slashing, 13:16) heading to the box, but the penalty kill remained
perfect, shutting down Topeka’s chances. The Scarecrows’ lone
penalty came at 16:24 when Avery Smith was called
for unsportsmanlike conduct. Behind a dominant offensive showing and
steady play from Dominik Tmej, the Black Bears
carried full control into the second period with a 3-0 lead.
The Black Bears picked up right where they left off, extending their
lead early in the middle frame and continuing to control the pace of
the game. Just 2:09 into the period, Gehrett Sargis
added to Binghamton’s lead with his first goal of the playoffs.
Sargis cleaned up a rebound opportunity created by Zac
Sirota, with Kyle Stephan also earning an
assist, pushing the advantage to 4-0. Binghamton maintained control
through much of the period, limiting Topeka’s chances while
continuing to generate offense of their own. Physical play picked up
midway through the frame, highlighted by a series of roughing
penalties at 12:05 involving Jacob Shankar for
Binghamton and Trevor Lord and Scott Coash
for Topeka, along with an earlier high-sticking penalty to
Austin D’Orazio at 10:18. Despite the continued
strong defensive effort, the Scarecrows found a late breakthrough.
With just 45 seconds remaining in the period, at 19:15, Trevor Lord
got Topeka on the board, beating Dominik Tmej high
glove side off a setup from Trevor Grasby and
Josh Labelle to cut the deficit to 4-1. Through two
periods, Binghamton continued to dictate play, outshooting Topeka
10-7 in the period and 30-13 overall, while carrying a three-goal
lead into the final frame.
The Topeka Scarecrows showed some
push early in the third as they looked to keep their season alive.
At 8:03, Jacob Gagnon cut into the deficit,
finishing a play from Scott Coash and Josh
Labelle to make it a 4-2 game and give Topeka a bit of
life. However, any momentum was short-lived. Just 28 seconds later,
Binghamton answered right back. At 8:31, Tyson Kirkby
restored the three-goal lead with his first goal of the playoffs,
finishing a feed from Nick Swain to make it 5-2 and
halt the Scarecrows’ comeback attempt. From there, the Black Bears
remained in control, continuing to generate pressure and limit
Topeka’s opportunities. Binghamton added insurance late after the
Scarecrows pulled goaltender Sammy Bernard for the
extra attacker. At 18:46, Jesse Anderson sealed the
game, finishing a play from Tyson Kirkby, who won
the key face-off that led directly to the goal, making it a 6-2
final. Binghamton outshot Topeka 17-11 in the third period and 47-24
overall, putting a stamp on a dominant performance from start to
finish.
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