O’CONNOR GUIDES B-SENS PAST PHANTOMS
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – The B-Sens snapped a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the visiting Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
The Binghamton Senators opened the scoring 5:40 into the first period off a shorthanded goal from Mark Fraser. Despite working the man-down, Kyle Flanagan found himself in a one-on-one breakaway with Anthony Stolarz who made the initial save but let Fraser’s slap shot maneuver through traffic and into the net for the defenseman’s first goal of the year. The B-Sens took their 1-0 lead into the first intermission with the teams each registering nine shots of goal.
Jason Akeson notched his first goal in a B-Sens jersey 5:20 into the second period to increase Binghamton’s lead to 2-0. Lehigh Valley’s Petr Straka collected a loose rebound in front of Matt O’Connor and flipped home his 18th goal of the season with less than nine minutes to play in the period to send the teams to the final break separated by just a single goal.
Max McCormick grabbed his 10th goal of the year with 8:28 to play in the third period to regain a two-goal cushion for the B-Sens. O’Connor withstood a late flurry of shots stopping all 12 chances over the final 20 minutes of play to preserve the victory for the hosts.
O’Connor finished with 34 saves on 35 shots faced in the winning effort while Stolarz allowed three goals on 27 shots in the loss.
