The Binghamton Black Bears (42-5-2) shutout the
Indiana Sentinels (12-32-4) for the straight
meeting, this time in Columbus Indiana by the score of 6-0. The
Black Bears wasted no time setting the tone in their first-ever
visit to the Hamilton Community Ice Arena. Just 29 seconds into the
game, CJ Stubbs opened the scoring in dramatic
fashion. After taking a spill near the goal line, Stubbs quickly
recovered, slid into the bumper position, and buried his 37th goal
of the season to give Binghamton an early 1-0 lead. Ivan
Bondarenko and Tyson Kirkby picked up the
assists on the play. The Sentinels had a chance to respond when
Kristers Bormanis was called for hooking at the
3:49 mark, but the Black Bears couldn’t extend their lead on the
power play. Indiana’s best opportunity came late in the period. At
15:27, Scott Ramaekers was assessed an holding
penalty after impeding Corey Cunningham on a developing odd-man
rush, resulting in a penalty shot. Cunningham attempted to beat
Dominik Tmej five-hole, but the Black Bears netminder stood tall,
shutting the door to preserve the lead. Binghamton controlled much
of the play throughout the opening frame, outshooting Indiana 15-6,
while Tmej turned aside all six shots he faced. Chris Curr
held steady for the Sentinels after the early goal, keeping the
deficit at one.
The Black Bears blew the game open in the
middle frame, using sustained pressure and timely scoring to take
full control. After coming up empty on their third power play
opportunity, Binghamton broke through at 6:50 as Nick Swain
found the back of the net for his first of the night, finishing off
a setup from Gavin Yates to make it 2-0. Swain
wasn’t done. Just over three minutes later, at 10:13, he struck
again—this time finishing a beautiful feed from Dan Stone,
with Yates picking up his second assist of the period. The tally
pushed the Black Bears lead to 3-0 and continued a dominant stretch
of offensive zone time. Indiana struggled to stay disciplined, with
Kristers Bormanis taking two separate penalties
(hooking and kneeing) earlier in the period, putting the Sentinels
on their heels for much of the frame. Late in the period, the Black
Bears capitalized on another opportunity. With Richard
Colarusso in the box for high-sticking, Ivan
Bondarenko buried a power play goal at 18:14, finishing a
play set up by CJ Stubbs and Scott
Ramaekers to extend the lead to 4-0. Binghamton controlled
play from start to finish, outshooting Indiana 21-6 in the period
and carrying a commanding four-goal lead into the final frame.
The Black Bears left no doubt in the final frame, putting the
finishing touches on a dominant performance. Just 1:06 into the
period, Nick Swain completed the hat trick,
finishing off a play from Gavin Yates and
Dan Stone to extend the lead to 5-0. Swain’s third goal of
the night capped off an outstanding offensive showing and continued
Binghamton’s relentless attack. Moments later, the Black Bears
capitalized on the power play once again. With Kristers
Bormanis in the box for elbowing, Tyson Kirkby
buried his 20th goal of the season at 5:49, converting a setup from
Ivan Bondarenko and Scott Ramaekers to
make it 6-0. The remainder of the period featured a more physical
tone, highlighted by matching fighting majors between Kyle
Stephan and Seth Bacon at the 9:57 mark.
Additional penalties on both sides—including roughing, interference,
and a bench minor for abuse of officials against Indiana—slowed the
pace but did little to shift momentum. Binghamton continued to
control play, outshooting Indiana 17-8 in the period and finishing
with a commanding 53-20 advantage in shots on goal.
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