By Brian Ring
Hartford, CT, December 4, 2011 – The Connecticut Whale fell to the Binghamton Senators, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the XL Center. Mats Zuccarello scored twice for the Whale, while Binghamton’s Andre Petersson also scored twice, including the game-winner, to stop Connecticut’s winning streak at four games.
Binghamton rallied from a 2-0 first period deficit eventually to take the lead for good in the third period.
“I thought the first period we played well, we had some guys step up physically,” said Whale head coach Ken Gernander. “The other guys didn’t respond to that.”
“We stopped playing and that’s not acceptable,” said Zuccarello. “This was a game we should have won for sure.”
The Whale had scored the first goal of the game at 12:57 of the first on the power-play, the sixth straight goal for Connecticut that came via the man advantage in their last two games. Zuccarello, foiled by the post in an early-period attempt against Senators goaltender Robin Lehner (23 saves), buried Kris Newbury’s pass for his sixth goal of the season.
Andreas Thuresson pushed the Whale lead to 2-0 just 19 seconds later, firing a shot from the high slot past Lehner. Thuresson took a pass from Ryan Bourque, whose assist gave him points in back-to-back games for the first time this season (1-1-2).
The Senators struck back at 6:01 of the second period, as Rob Klinkhammer gathered his third goal of the year off of a rebound from Whale goaltender Cam Talbot (30 saves). Klinkhammer’s goal was assisted by both Stephane Da Costa and Patrick Wiercioch.
Binghamton tied the game just moments later, as Petersson’s hard wrist-shot got past Talbot’s stick side at 7:20 for his sixth goal. Klinkhammer received his second point of the period with the primary assist.
Derek Grant gave the Senators the lead with their third unanswered goal at 15:35, deflecting Mike Bartlett’s shot past Talbot. The Whale were outshot by the visitors by a 19-5 margin in the second period.
The Whale managed to tie it on Zuccarello’s second goal of the night with 1:10 remaining in the second, as he corralled a loose puck and fired it over the sprawling Lehner for the equalizer. Andre Deveaux collected the assist, his third point in his last two games (2-1-3).
Petersson struck again at 8:07 of the third period, burying his second goal of the night on a slap shot from the left circle. The eventual game-winner was assisted on by Matt Carkner and Da Costa.
“We didn’t play our game at all,” said Zuccarello. “You can’t win games in this league when you don’t play 100 percent.”
The Whale are back in home action twice this coming weekend, taking on the Hershey Bears on Friday, Dec. 9 (7:00 PM), before hosting the Providence Bruins the next night, Saturday, Dec. 10, also a 7:00 PM start at the XL Center.
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Binghamton Senators 4 at Connecticut Whale 3
Sunday, December 4, 2011 – XL Center Veterans Memorial Coliseum
Binghamton 0 3 1 – 4
Connecticut 2 1 0 – 3
1st Period-1, Connecticut, Zuccarello 6 (Newbury, Bell), 12:57 (PP). 2, Connecticut, Thuresson 6 (Bourque), 13:16. Penalties-Carkner Bng (hooking), 12:50; Carkner Bng (fighting), 15:18; Bickel Ct (fighting), 15:18; Borowiecki Bng (fighting), 18:20; Nightingale Ct (fighting), 18:20.
2nd Period-3, Binghamton, Klinkhammer 3 (Da Costa, Wiercioch), 6:01. 4, Binghamton, Petersson 6 (Klinkhammer, Gryba), 7:20. 5, Binghamton, Grant 4 (Bartlett, Borowiecki), 15:35 (PP). 6, Connecticut, Zuccarello 7 (Deveaux), 18:50. Penalties-Thuresson Ct (interference), 14:14; Bell Ct (holding), 19:36.
3rd Period-7, Binghamton, Petersson 7 (Carkner, Da Costa), 8:07. Penalties-Valentenko Ct (major – boarding, game misconduct – boarding), 15:50; Klinkhammer Bng (high-sticking), 16:25; Carkner Bng (slashing), 18:00; Newbury Ct (unsportsmanlike conduct), 18:00; Bell Ct (tripping), 19:29.
Shots on Goal-Binghamton 8-19-7-34. Connecticut 10-5-11-26.
Power Play Opportunities-Binghamton 1 / 4; Connecticut 1 / 1.
Goalies-Binghamton, Lehner 6-8-1 (26 shots-23 saves). Connecticut, Talbot 6-4-0 (34 shots-30 saves).
A-2,669
Referees-Dan Dreger (51).
Linesmen-Derek Wahl (46), Luke Galvin (2).
