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The St. John's IceCaps ended their two-game series against the Binghamton Senators with a win on Wednesday night, at Mile One Centre.
Montreal's top goaltender prospect Zach Fucale was the star of the show, making an impressive 40 saves en route to the victory.
Fans in St. John's were still making their way to their seats, when defenseman Darren Dietz opened the scoring with his first goal of the season. Dietz's goal came on a shot from the blueline, beating Senators starter Matt O'Connor just 1:37 into the contest.
The strong start didn't stop there for St. John's. Just two minutes later, after some good play in the offensive zone, Daniel Carr tapped the puck on net from behind the goal. The puck bounced off O'Connor's skate and into the back of the net giving the Caps an early 2-0 lead. From there, the home team kept rolling.
At 11:52 of the period, sophomore defenseman Mac Bennett's shot from the point was saved by O'Connor, but the rebound hit his defensemen in front, and deflected in to the open cage. The goal, Bennett's first of the year, would send St. John's into the intermission sitting on a comfortable 3-0 lead.
The intensity shown by the IceCaps in the first failed to carry into the second period. Within seven minutes of play, Binghamton managed to beat the 20-year-old Fucale twice. For the second night in a row, Eric O'Dell put his name in the goal column. Max McCormick was the other scorer for the Senators, as they managed to hold St. John's to a lonely five shots in the frame.
Just as in the previous game against Binghamton, St. John's looked somewhat shaky when playing with the lead in the third period, only managing five shots to the Binghamton's twelve. But luckily for the IceCaps, Fucale held the fort, leading his team to the win, and a valuable two points.
IceCaps head coach Sylvain Lefebvre recorded his 100th AHL win on the night.
Goaltenders
STJ - Zach Fucale 40 of 42
BNG - Matt O'Connor 18 of 21
3 Stars
1. Zachary Fucale
2. Eric O'Dell (1 goal, +1)
3. Sven Andrighetto (2 assists, +2)
The IceCaps have a few days off before hosting the Bridgeport SoundTigers at Mile One Centre, on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon.