BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Mike Halmo led the Syracuse Crunch with two goals in a 4-2 win over the Binghamton Senators tonight at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena.
Halmo broke the stalemate late in the first period before he and Matt Taormina scored back-to-back goals in just 15 seconds in the second period to build a 3-0 lead. The Senators stole two back, but Joel Vermin netted an insurance goal to help move the Crunch to 10-5-0-1 on the season.
Adam Wilcox backstopped the Crunch with 30 saves, while Andrew Hammond stopped 25-of-29 for the Senators. Syracuse converted on one of their four power play opportunities and shut down Binghamton’s only man-advantage.
The Crunch were first to score with just 10 seconds remaining in the first period. Michael Bournival carried the puck into the zone and sent it across for Cameron Darcy. Darcy sent a return feed back across the slot for Halmo to jam past Hammond.
Syracuse built a 3-0 lead with back-to-back goals just 15 seconds apart in the middle frame. The first goal came at the 8:29 mark while on the power play. Tanner Richard won the faceoff in the left circle. The puck kicked out for Adam Erne to cycle up to the point where Taormina netted a slap shot. Seconds later, Halmo earned his second of the night. Adam Comrie fired a bomb from the left point that was redirected first by Bournival and into the net by Halmo.
With just two seconds remaining in the second period, the Senators finally got on the board. Phil Varone passed ahead to Kyle Flanagan who got past the defense and scored shorthanded.
The Senators pulled within one less than two minutes into the third period. Buddy Robinson fired from a wide angle. Wilcox got a piece of it, but the puck managed to sneak across the goal line. Assists went to Casey Bailey and Varone.
Vermin added an insurance goal for the Crunch with 2:16 remaining in the game to secure the second win against the Senators this season. Taormina faked a shot at the left point before sending the puck down low for Vermin to backhand in. Yanni Gourde tallied the secondary helper.
The Crunch will travel to face the St. John’s IceCaps on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at 6 p.m. ET.
Syracuse Crunch single game and ticket packages for the 2016-17 season are on sale now and can be purchased either in person at the Crunch office located in the War Memorial Arena at 800 S. State St. in Syracuse or by calling the office at 315-473-4444. For the latest Crunch news, visit www.syracusecrunch.com or follow the club on Facebook (www.facebook.com/syracusecrunch), Twitter (@SyracuseCrunch) and Instagram (@syracusecrunch) using #SyrCrunch, WeAreOne and BLUnited.
Crunchables: The Syracuse Crunch are 7-0 when scoring first…Matt Taormina has points (4g, 8a) in nine of his last 10 games…Yanni Gourde now leads the Crunch with 13 points (4g, 9a).
