BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Zack Smith is making the most of his final days with the Binghamton Senators.
The 23-year-old centre scored twice to break a second-period tie and lead the Binghamton Senators to a 4-2 victory Saturday night over the Houston Aeros in Game 5 of the American Hockey League's Calder Cup final.
"It was huge," Smith said. "After the second (goal), I realized, yeah, it is our last game in the building. It was nice that the fans got to send us off with a win."
Smith signed a one-way contract with the Ottawa Senators last month, meaning Saturday's game was likely his last in Binghamton.
Smith has played nearly 200 games with the AHL's Senators since graduating from the Swift Current Broncos and turning pro in 2008.
Binghamton leads the series 3-2 and the odds are very much in its favour as it attempts to win the city's first AHL title when the series shifts to Houston for Game 6 on Tuesday and Game 7 on Thursday, if necessary.
In the 75-year history of the AHL, the team that breaks a 2-2 final series tie with a Game 5 victory goes on to hoist the cup 95 per cent of the time (18 of 19).
"It's definitely awesome, but we just have to focus on the first game and come out ready to play," winger Bobby Butler said.
Smith scored a power-play goal with 8.5 seconds left in the second period to break a 2-2 tie. Ryan Potulny gathered a rebound in the slot with his back to the goal and shoved a pass to Smith, who muscled a puck past goalie Matt Hackett from the left post.
Smith tacked on another goal with 4:04 to go in the game, taking a pass from Jim O'Brien on the rush and putting a wristshot past Hackett.
That was enough support for goalie Robin Lehner, who made 41 saves to allow two or fewer goals for the seventh time in his last eight starts.
"If you're going to be a champion, these are the kind of games where you're not necessarily at your best and you find a way to get it done," Binghamton coach Kurt Kleinendorst said. "Robin makes a big save or you win a battle at the right time. That's where our game was tonight."
Jean-Michel Daoust scored twice for Houston, erasing a pair of Binghamton leads in the first period.
The Sens went up 1-0 when Andre Benoit looped from the right point to left faceoff dot and found Corey Locke at the far post for a tap-in goal at 9:19.
About two minutes later, Houston's fourth line worked the puck down low until the five-foot-eight Daoust popped out at the left post and muscled a shot past Lehner.
Binghamton took a 2-1 lead when Erik Condra blocked a Jared Spurgeon shot, took off on a breakaway and slipped a backhand between Hackett's pads at 12:17.
Daoust tied the score again at the tail end of a power play with 6.3 seconds left in the period, tapping in a Marco Scandella pass from the left faceoff circle at the far post.
"There's enough things for us to still be optimistic about," Houston coach Mike Yeo said. "They have two chances to win it and we have to make sure we approach the next game as a Game 7 and our season's on the line. But when we're playing our game and doing the right things, we've seen the results we can have."
Both teams lost defencemen to injuries in the game.
Binghamton's Jared Cowen, Ottawa's first-round pick in the 2009 draft, left in the first period and Houston's Spurgeon left in the second. Neither returned, and neither coach offered any further information on the injuries after the game.
