Venom lose 1st game at new home arena, 6-2 to Black Bears
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – HC Venom played their first game at their new home, McCann Ice Arena, on Sunday. Despite a spirited effort in front of vocal crowd on a snowy afternoon, the Venom lost 6-2 to the Binghamton Black Bears.
Austin Thompson and Daniel Stone had big games Binghamton, each recording four points. Thompson did it with two goals and two assists, and Stone complimented his one goal with three assists. The Venom had six players record a point, with Connor Craig and Jonas Leas netting the goals.
The move into McCann Ice Arena, which is part of the MJN Convention Center in the heart of Poughkeepsie, was made under the Venom’s new ownership, PKB LLC.
The first goal in the FPHL’s history at McCann Ice Arena was scored at 5:55 of the first period by Binghamton rookie Emerson Emery. It was also his first career goal, and came off a wild scramble in front of the Venom net. Binghamton nearly added to the lead after the ensuing face-off, but Venom goalie Makar Sokolov kept a loose puck from crossing the goal line.
The Venom got the game's first power play at 11:08 thanks to a delay of game penalty but failed to manufacture any dangerous chances against Binghamton goalie Connor McAnanama. Shortly after killing the man-up advantage, the Black Bears had a power play of their own, when Marquis Grant-Mentis went to the box for interference at 13:26 in his Venom debut.
Binghamton converted on their advantage; Dakota Bohn scored at 14:22 to extend the Black Bears lead to two. The score carried to the first intermission, with the Venom only mustering four shots on net, none making it past McAnanama.
After a quiet first period, the Venom started quickly in the second. Leas swiftly went end-to-end and fired the puck to the back of the net at 1:27 for his second goal of the season. Not long after, at 4:45, Craig evened the score with his first career goal, assisted by fellow rookie Olivier Beaudoin and veteran forward Lester Brown.
Binghamton took the lead back at 14:11 of the second, though. Thompson converted on the power play to take advantage of Dustin Jeaseau’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
The Venom had a prime chance to even the score – or even take the lead -- before the second period ended when Chris Mott was sent off with a five-minute major for spearing at 14:53. Despite few good looks, the Venom did not net the equalizer, allowing the Black Bears to pull away in the third period.
The power play ended prematurely; at 18:36 Brown committed an interference penalty, and before making his way to the box attempted to fight Scott Ramaekers, adding an additional five minutes to Binghamton's power play.
The Black Bears put the game out of reach early in the third period; Stone added a goal at 3:25, and then Thompson scored his second of the game and 20th of the season at 5:53. Zac Sirota scored Binghamton’s sixth goal of the night on a partial breakaway at10:00. The Venom managed just four shots on goal in the third period.
Sokolov ended his day with 21 saves, doing his best to fend off 10 Binghamton power plays. At the other end of the ice, McAnanama saved 19 with the Venom unable to sustain much offensive pressure.
The Venom travel to Carolina for a two-game weekend set against the Thunderbirds on Friday and Saturday. Their next home game is Sunday, Feb. 2 at McCann, beginning at 4:30 p.m. against the Danbury Hat Tricks.
Venom tickets cost $10 and may be purchased at Ticketmaster.