DANBURY FORCES GAME 3 WITH 5-4 OT WIN

by Rob Lippolis

DANBURY – The Danbury Hat Tricks defeated the Binghamton Black Bears on Tuesday night in overtime, 5-4, to force a deciding Game 3 on Wednesday night in Danbury.

 

Geno DeAngelo gave the Black Bears a 1-0 lead early in the game. Nikita Ivashkin set up DeAngelo and he slid the puck under the pads of goaltender Peter Di Salvo to give the Black Bears a one-goal advantage just 1:23 into the game.

 

Danbury tied the game 1-1 as Jonny Ruiz helped force a defensive zone turnover and fired a slap shot by the glove of goaltender Owen Liskiewicz. The goal was his second of the playoffs at 10:43 of the first with the lone assist going to Gordy Bonnel.

 

Tyler Gjurich blasted home a power-play goal at 18:29 of the first period to give Binghamton a 2-1 lead. Kyle Powell and Gavin Yates were awarded the assists on Gjurich’s first goal of the playoffs. Binghamton took the 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

 

Gjurich struck again on the power play in the second period for his second of the night. From the left circle, he blasted a slap shot over the shoulder of Peter Di Salvo to give the Black Bears a 3-1 lead with 4:24 remaining in the second period. Cam Yarwood was given the lone assist.

 

Nicola Levesque pulled Danbury back within one with just 1:50 left in the second period as he tapped the puck by the pad of goaltender Owen Liskiewicz. Binghamton took a 3-2 lead into the third period.

 

Danbury tied the game 3-3 as Tobias Odjick scored 5:18 into the third period with an assist from Jonny Ruiz.

 

Tyler Gjurich scored a hat trick to give the Black Bears a 4-3 lead on a breakaway. Tyler Piekarski fed Gjurich with a pass and he deked out Peter Di Salvo for his third of the game at 9:01 of the third period.

 

With just 13 seconds left in regulation, Danbury tied the game to force overtime. Steve Mele tapped in the puck with Danbury’s net empty and forced extra time for the second night in a row.

 

Nicola Levesque scored the overtime winner on the power play at 3:48 of the first overtime to force the deciding game tomorrow night.

 

Game 3 is tomorrow night, and the winner will advance to the FPHL Semifinals. Puck drops at 7:30 p.m. Fans can listen on Fox Sports 1430AM Binghamton.