BINGHAMTON STORMS BACK TO DEFEAT MOTOR CITY

BINGHAMTON- The Binghamton Black Bears scored four goals in the final period to storm back and defeat the Motor City Rockers 6-3 in front of a sellout crowd.  Tyson Kirkby tallied his second hat trick of the year, scoring three goals in the third period.

After a pregame military tribute on the ice, the Black Bears and Rockers would get out to a quick start.  An early penalty to Jake Schutlz put the struggling Motor City power play on the ice early.  The Black Bears had a couple to chances to exit the zone, but the sustained pressure from the Rockers would lead to the game’s first goal.  Scott Coash would squeak a one-timer past Riley McVeigh and the Rockers were not finished there. 

Just two minutes later, the Rockers were able to double their lead to 2-0.  Newly acquired Declan Conway cashed in to make it 2-0 in a blink of a eye.  The Black Bears would step up the pressure late in the period, and with a favorable bounce, Mac Lewis would put Binghamton on the scoreboard.  After 20, the visitors from Michigan had a 2-1 advantage. 

Newly signed forward, Jamie Bucell, would tie the game on the first shot of the second period.  Bucell would redirect a wrist shot from Jesse Anderson that made its way past the goaltender evening things up at 2-2.  The teams would enter a chess match, hoping the other team would make a mistake.  Once again, it was Motor City breaking the tie, and grabbing a 3-2 lead on the Derek Makimaa power play goal.  After 40 minutes, the Rockers still led by one, 3-2.

Coach Reynolds mention before the game how important the first minutes of a period can be, and his team took those words to heart.  30 seconds into the final frame the Black Bears would tie the score at 3-3 thanks to Tyson Kirkby tallying his fourth of the season.  Later in the frame, the Binghamton power play hit the ice with a mission to grab the lead for the first time and who better to answer the call than Tyler Gjurich.  Gjurich connected on a one-timer from Kirkby propelling the Black Bears into the lead for the first time.  Kirkby continued his hot night, as he would leak one through Babin to give the team an insurance goal nearly halfway through the third period.  The Black Bears would have to kill off one final penalty and with an empty net, Kirkby netted his second hat trick of the season.  The hats rained down from the sellout crowd of 4893 inside the arena and fans continued to cheer for the final 90 seconds of the contest.  Black Bears win 6-3 after being down 2-0 in the first period, ending Motor City’s four-game winning streak.   

The same two teams will be at it once again tomorrow night at 7:00P.M. tickets are on sale at binghamtonblackbears.com   

Stay current with the latest team news by visiting www.binghamtonblackbears.com, by calling 607-722-7367, or visiting the front office on the third floor of the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena. Follow the Black Bears all year long on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tic Tok @BlackBearsFPHL.