Hershey Erases Early Hole, Blasts Binghamton 4-2

HERSHEY, PA – David Leggio, seen here earlier in the season, had 37 saves in Hershey’s win over Binghamton (Kyle Mace / Sweetest Hockey on Earth)

It wasn’t pretty in the opening seven minutes as the Binghamton Senators jumped to an early 2-0 advantage, but thanks to two key goals by Nicolas Deschamps, the Hershey Bears scored four unanswered goals to down the Sens 4-2.

On Binghamton’s annual teddy bear toss night, fans did not have to wait long to engage in the stuffed animal spectacle. Jim O’Brien capitalized for the B-Sens after a lively bounce off the backboards, which caught David Leggio off guard. O’Brien scored into a wide-open near side only 32 seconds into the game.

At the 7:05 mark of the opening frame, Buddy Robinson provided early insurance for his club by expanding the lead to two. Robinson finished a perfect 2-on-1 sequence after blasting the puck past Leggio’s blocker side following a perfect dish from Mark Stone.

But for the rest of the night, Leggio was perfect in net and the Bears would eventually bounce back. Tyson Strachan, only 70 seconds after the Sens’ previous tally, scored on a quick release from the low slot that beat Nathan Lawson to the top shelf. Binghamton entered the dressing room after 20 minutes with a one goal lead in tact after surviving a late first period push by Hershey on the power play.

Josh Brittain opened the middle period by scoring only 3:06 in via a great one-man effort. He led an offensive attack and crashed the net, stuffing a low shot past Lawson.

Nicolas Deschamps later scored on the door step after receiving a big rebound in front of the net to pull the Chocolate and White ahead before second intermission.

Deschamps tallied a third period insurance goal in Eric Fehr, 2006 game seven against Portland fashion with a bomb of a slap shot that grazed the bottom of the cross bar and back of the net. Before Binghamton could find an opportunity to pull their goalie, with 1:21 on the clock the Chocolate and White stormed to a 4-2 lead.

It remained as the game’s final count, as Hershey hung on for their eighth win of the season when leading after two periods. Thankfully, no extra time was required for the road victory.