The Hamilton Hammers, the American Hockey League’s newest club, prevailed 5-2 Friday.

The Sens opened with ceremony: 10 hockey players from around the Bay of Quinte, born during their inaugural 2017 season, introduced the team. All part of their 10th anniversary celebrations.

But unfortunately for a packed CIBC Place, it was the Hammers’ Mitchell Chaffee who opened the scoring 2:48 into the first period, with assists going to Liam Foudy and Marshall Warren. Hamilton continued to apply the pressure for the first half of the first frame.

“We started slow. For the first 10 minutes they were definitely better. From that point on I thought we generated quite a few good looks, their goalie made a few great saves on chances we had, but the game boiled down to discipline. We take seven minor penalties, they score three times,” said Senators Head Coach Andrew Campbell.

Belleville shook off the rust but could not find a way past Hammers’ goaltender Vítek Vaněček in the back half of the first. The response was quashed by recurring penalties. Tyler Bouchers tripping penalty was just one of seven.

The Senators escaped the first three Hammers power plays unscathed. On their fourth try, Hamilton hit pay-dirt as Pierre Engvall was the beneficiary of a Matthew Highmore pass. Kashawn Aitcheson also picked up an assist on the play.

When they weren’t cutting ruts to the penalty box, the Sens were able to hem the Hammers in their own zone for extended stretches throughout the second.

“I was happy with the response. We’ve got a lot of good players. It took us 10 minutes, but after that point it was okay,” said Coach Campbell.

Momentum in the middle frame lead to Hamilton getting into penalty trouble of their own. After Alex Jeffries was called for slashing, Daylan Kuefler put the puck clean over the glass.

The first of the two penalties had just expired when Xavier Bourgault cut to the front of the net and beat Vaněček clean. Eskild Bakke Olsen and Tyler Boucher assisted the power play marker which cut the lead to 2-1.

“I’ve worked on that play for quite a while. I saw an opening, and then I saw space over his shoulder,” Mr. Bourgault said.

What felt like a comeback bid was spoiled repeatedly in the third. Chaffee scored his second of the contest, again on the power play with Cole Eiserman and Foudy on the set up.

Shane Bowers gave the home side life again with an unassisted effort.

Rinse and repeat. Chaffee completed the Hat-Trick, again on the power play, again with Foudy and Eiserman setting him up.

Then there was Vaněček , who made 25 saves on 27 shots, none better than a sprawling glove save which can be classified as highway robbery.

The Senators had plenty of opportunities at 2-1 and at 3-2 to tie the contest but could not apply a finishing touch.

“We misfired on some opportunities, and we overpassed on a few opportunities where we could have shot, amd then their goalie was really good. He made some highlight reel saves,” Mr. Campbell said. 

Joey Larson put the seal on the Hammers first franchise win when he fired the puck into a yawning cage, with Senators goaltender Jonas Johansson watching from the bench.

Johannsson made 28 saves on 32 shots in the loss, a stat line which does not tell the tale of how he kept the home side in the game on multiple occasions.

“Jonas was good. He made some big saves for us, stood strong and played well,” Mr. Campbell said. “It’s going to take some time to gel together but we created some really good looks against a good team.”

The Senators get another crack at their first win of the season in front of the home fans on Sunday, when they take on the Rochester Americans. Puck drop is 3 p.m.