The Pirates camped out in the Binghamton zone for much of the first 4 minutes of the game, capped off by Maxime Legault's goal from the right side of the net, past Senators goalie Robin
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Lehner. The play started with a pass from Matt Ellis on the left side to mark Voakes out in front, who took a shot that Legault put back. Legault would take a hooking penalty 8 minutes in that the Pirates killed off, but it seemed to finally give Binghamton some momentum. The Pirates would go on the power play 12 minutes in, but could only muster 2 shots, while giving Binghamton 2 short-handed chances. At the horn, it was 1-0 Portland, but momentum seemed to be swinging away from the Pirates.
The Pirates seemed to come out of the locker room with momentum, and 2 minutes in Colin Stuart and Mark Parrish had a solid chance in front of the net that Lehner denied. Portland was the much more physical team, trying to slow down Binghamton's fast-paced style. Mark Mancari had a breakaway chance 4:30 in, but his first attempt was stuffed, and he couldn't corral the rebound for another try.
That big save by Lehner energized the Senators, who finally lit the lamp 2 minutes later. Ryan Keller got a shot past Dave Leggio to even the score at 1-1. Ryan Potulny and Smith assisted on the goal. Binghamton would go on the power play less than a minute later, and would quickly take their first lead of the game. Bobby Butler netted the goal for the Senators, and he was assisted by Andre Benoit and Corey Locke.
The Pirates were lucky to be only a goal down, as Leggio faced many open shots throughout the period, making sprawling saves on many of them. Portland pulled the momentum back towards their side late in the period as Stuart raced down the ice in transition, collecting a lob pass from Corey Fienhage, and wristing it past Lehner from the right circle. The Pirates got a chance to take back the lead a minute later, going on the power play after Locke was called for interference. The sluggish-looking Pirates couldn't get a shot on net and it was 2-2 heading into the second intermission.
The Pirates fired a couple shots from the blue line early in the third period, trying to take back the lead and gain some positive momentum. The idea failed, and the Senators started teeing off on Leggio again. He stopped a wide open shot by Colin Greening 2:45 in, and had to jump on a puck in the crease a couple minutes later to keep the game tied.
The Senators finally got one past Leggio, as Smith ripped a shot in from a tough angle on the right side. Poltulny and Benoit notched assists on the goal. Binghamton kept up the pressure, pelting Leggio with open shot after open shot as the Pirates couldn't keep up with the Senators' puck movement.
Portland's best and last chance to net the equalizer came with 2 minutes to go as Paul Byron found Parrish for a shot in front of Lehner, but the Senators netminder turned the attempt away. The Pirates wouldn't get another good look as Binghamton picked up an important road win in Game 1.
Leggio stopped 40 of 43 shots that came his way, as it could have been a much more crooked number that Binghamton put up in this one.
The Pirates were out shot 34 to 24 in the final 2 periods, as Binghamton seemed to dictate the tempo for much of the game.
Zack Smith was named the #1 Star of the Game after picking up a goal and assist.
Ryan Potulny was named the #2 Star after assisting on 2 goals and getting 3 shots on net.
Maxime Legault was named the #3 Star after scoring the opening goal and showing some aggressive play throughout the game.
Game 2 will be tomorrow night at 7pm at the Cumberland County Civic Center, before the series shifts to Binghamton for games 3, 4, and 5 if necessary.
-WIL KRAMLICH-
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Pirates Head Coach Kevin Dineen
Pirates Colin Stuart
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