ROCHESTER, NY – The Binghamton Senators scored twice in the first period and tacked on two more on the power-play to roll to a 4-0 win over the Rochester Americans 
in the first game of a weekend home-and-home series Friday night at The Blue Cross Arena. The loss drops the Amerks, who won the first three games of the season series against the Senators, to 17-18-2-1 as Rochester officially hits the halfway point of the season heading into Saturday’s rematch in Binghamton.
Fifth-year pro Phil Varone fired off a team-high six shots on goal while Amerks goaltender Linus Ullmark posted 21 saves in his return to the lineup following Thursday’s reassignment from the parent Buffalo Sabres. Ullmark, whose return to Rochester was also paired with the departure of Robin Lehner back to Buffalo, played 19 games with the Sabres over his three-month recall and was making his first start with the Amerks since Oct. 21.
Ryan Dzingel (1+1) and Cole Schneider (0+2) paced the B-Sens with two-point nights, while Nick Paul, David Dziurzynski and Eric O’Dell all scored in the win for Binghamton, which has won nine of its last 12. Scott Greenham stopped all 33 shots he faced to pick up his first shutout of the season.
Rochester spent most of the first half of the opening period on the man-advantage as back-to-back penalties to Binghamton’s Ryan Penny and Mark Fraser paved the way for a rare full five minutes of consecutive power-play time. The Amerks were able to generate plenty of shots and some quality scoring chances, including several during a brief 5-on-3 period, but Greenham stood tall for the Senators, who managed to escape unscathed.
With the momentum in its favor and the teams back at full strength, Binghamton quickly seized control of the game, scoring twice in eight seconds to storm out to a 2-0 lead. Paul put the visitors on the board at the 12:47 mark when he swatted home his sixth of the season from the top of the crease following a goal-mouth rush from newly acquired Connor Allen.
Then, just eight seconds after the ensuing face-off, Penny attacked the slot and threw a shot on goal that was denied squarely by the left pad of Ullmark. The rebound kicked out to Dziurzynski and the Senators forward ripped it by the defenseless netminder to increase the visitors’ lead to a pair.
The second period began similar to that of the first with the Amerks getting more ample power-play time, including their second two-man advantage of the night. Greenham, again, was at his best to keep Rochester at bay for the near three minutes while keeping it a two-goal game for the Senators.
Binghamton finished the night with consecutive power-play goals from Dzingel and O’Dell. Dzingel converted a Matt Puempel rebound from the slot at 12:28 of the middle frame and O’Dell followed up with his team-leading 14th goal of the year to seal the 4-0 win for the Sens.
With Amerks game report
