The Binghamton
Black Bears (36-5-1) earned a 9–4 win over the
Watertown Wolves (13-23-5) on Saturday night in Watertown
completing the 2 game sweep in the North Country. Despite skating a short bench,
Binghamton showed plenty of jump early and rallied after
surrendering the opening goal. Watertown struck first on the power
play at 4:42. With Jacob Shankar in the penalty box for tripping,
the Wolves Steven Klinck converted a chance set up by
Darion
Benchich and Yefim Mishkin to give the Wolves a 1-0 lead. The Black
Bears responded with speed midway through the period. At 11:52,
Tyson Kirkby broke in on a rush and finished the play from
Camron
Cervone and Sam Holy, tying the game at 1-1. Moments later the
physicality ramped up. At 12:07, rookie defenseman Sam Holy dropped
the gloves with Hunter Hall, energizing the Binghamton bench. The
momentum shift was immediate, just 21 seconds later (12:28), Ivan
Bondarenko drove the net and buried a close-range chance from Kirkby
and Jesse Anderson, giving the Black Bears their first lead at 2-1.
Binghamton blew the game open in the middle frame, scoring
four times in the opening half of the period and weathering a
critical penalty kill to stay firmly in control. The Black Bears
needed only 1:19 to extend the lead. Austin D’Orazio finished a
setup from Tyson Kirkby to make it 3-1. On the very next shift at
1:48, Bondarenko struck himself, wiring home his second of the night
from Shankar and Tyson Kirkby, quickly pushing the advantage to 4-1.
Midway through the period the offense kept rolling. At 10:53,
Gehrett Sargis scored his seventh of the season off a feed from
D’Orazio and Nick Swain. Just 50 seconds later (11:43),
Scott
Ramaekers added another from Swain and Jesse Anderson, stretching
the margin to 6-1. Watertown received a prime opportunity earlier in
the period when Binghamton took simultaneous penalties at 7:02,
giving the Wolves a full two-minute 5-on-3 advantage. Goaltender
Wyatt Friedlander stood tall, facing only three shots but stopping
each one, and the penalty kill preserved the commanding lead. The
Wolves finally broke through late in the period. With Bondarenko in
the box for high-sticking, Hunter Hall converted the power play at
16:48 from Darion Benchich and Steven Klinck, cutting the deficit to
6-2 heading into the intermission.
Watertown came out
pushing in the final frame and struck quickly on the power play.
With Nick Swain serving a carryover interference minor, Steven
Klinck scored just 31 seconds into the period off feeds from
Darion
Benchich and Yefim Mishkin, trimming the Black Bears’ lead to 6-3.
Binghamton answered midway through the period. At 5:12, Jacob
Shankar finished a setup from Dan Wieber and
Kyle Stephan, restoring
the four-goal cushion at 7-3. The Wolves refused to go quietly. At
11:07, Yefim Mishkin scored at even strength from Egor Filippov and
Adam Zimmerman, cutting the deficit to 7-4. The Black Bears’ captain
made sure momentum didn’t swing any further. At 12:59, Tyson Kirkby
buried a feed from Ivan Bondarenko and Austin D’Orazio, regaining
the four-goal advantage. Binghamton capped off the weekend scoring
at 17:15 when Gehrett Sargis netted his second goal of the game from
Nick Swain and Wieber, sealing the 9-4 victory. |
