Binghamton Black Bears vs. Danbury Hat Tricks Breakdown, Preview, Stats
April 17, 2022

Posted by: Bob Howard
Credit: Binghamton Hockey.net

April 17, 2022 - Binghamton Hockey.net Article

Danbury choses Binghamton for Round 1.

Binghamton, NY - Danbury Hat Tricks is the team. The Binghamton Black Bears will begin the Federal Prospects Hockey League Commissioner’s Cup Playoffs against the 3rd place Danbury Hat Tricks. The FPHL’s 1st place Watertown Wolves and the 2nd place Columbus River Dragons have a 1st round bye leaving the Hat Tricks with their choice of either the 4th place Binghamton Black Bears, the 5th place Carolina Thunderbirds or the 6th place Port Huron Prowlers and the Connecticut based team chose the Black Bears.

Game 1 will be played Monday, April 18th at the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena with an expected puck drop of 7 PM. Games 2 and 3 (if needed) with be played on Tuesday, April 19th and Wednesday, April 20th at the Danbury Ice Center. Puck drop in the Danbury games will be 7:30 PM.

Binghamton and Danbury squared off 13 times during the regular season, with the Hat Tricks winning 8 of the 13 games. Danbury had the edge in the 13 games scoring 71 goals while the Black Bears scored only 60 goals in the season series. The Black Bears are the #2 offense in the league scoring 288 goals in 59 games while the Hat Tricks scored 253 goals placing them 3rd in the league through 61 games. The Black Bears big advantage is on the Power Play ranking 1st in the league with 65 Power Play Goals, the Hat Tricks ranked 2nd to last with only 46 Power Play Goals.

Game 1 of the FPHL Quarterfinals begins Monday Night in Binghamton.

The Hat Tricks will have to hold at bay Nikita Ivashkin (56-42-98) and Tyler Gjurich (55-43-98) who both lead the Black Bears offensively and both top 3 point getters in the FPHL this season. The Hat Tricks will counter with Jonny Ruiz (49-36-85) and Dmitry Kuznetsov (34-34-68) offensively. Kyle Powell on the blue-line for the Black Bears will factor in the scoring in this series as he was tops in the FPHL with 67 assists adding 9 goals and Top Defenseman Honors from the league.

In goal the Black Bears have two goalies who have gotten better as the season gone on. Owen Liskiewicz (18-13-1) had a GAA of 4.10 and save % of .899 while Joe Sheppard (11-6-1) had 4.71 GAA and .889 save % for the Black Bears. While the Hat Tricks will likely roll with either Frankie McClendon (8-7-3) with a 4.26 GAA and a .889 save % or Peter Di Salvo (9-8-0) with a 3.46 GAA and a .909 % save %.

FULL SERIES SCHEDULE:
• GAME 1 – Danbury @ Binghamton – Monday, April 18 – 7 p.m.
• GAME 2 – Binghamton @ Danbury – Tuesday, April 19 – 7:30 p.m.
• GAME 3* – Binghamton @ Danbury – Wednesday, April 20 – 7:30 p.m.
*if necessary

Binghamton Hockey.net will have coverage of all games in the playoffs for the Binghamton Black Bears with Boxscores, articles and more.