With a seven game road trip in the offing and their Calder Cup aspirations in the balance, the Belleville Senators are playing some of their best hockey of the 2025-25 American Hockey League season.

The Senators tied a season-high points streak this week, stretching their run of positive results to five straight games, including three consecutive victories in overtime or the shootout.

Belleville is 4-0-1-0 over that stretch, with wins this week against the host Laval Rocket, the visiting Rochester Americans and the Utica Comets.

The B-Sens most recent win over the AHL Affiliate of the New Jersey Devils came Sunday afternoon in a 5-4 shootout at the Canadian Tire Centre, home arena of the parent Ottawa Senators.

With the recent spate of wins, Belleville has moved its record to 17-18-5 and are back in a Calder Cup playoff position in the North Division.

Sens forward Keenan Washkaruk said after Sunday’s win there was a good feeling in the club’s dressing room as the road trip looms. The gritty Waterloo, ON native has goals in back-to-back games and told reporters that hard work in the corners has been paying off for the team in recent weeks.

“(Coach Andrew Campbell) has been preaching that for the past few games and things have been going our way,” Washkaruk told the media.

The coach said he was impressed with the results after a hectic week that saw travel distractions and players in and out of the Belleville lineup.

“It’s fun to win in general but especially this week, the guys deserve to have some fun and some smiles,” Coach Campbell said while post game victory music and revelry reverberated in the bowels of the CTC.

A Rigid Battle

Despite their position as North Division cellar dwellers, the Comets have played Belleville tough this season, a 7-0 whitewash by the Sens December 28 notwithstanding. Utica had a win and a one goal loss heading into Sunday’s affair. The Comets almost pulled off a comeback victory in Ottawa.

Belleville fell behind in the first as a pair of Utica goals sandwiched Mr. Washkaruk’s fifth of the season. Picking up an assist on the Belleville goal was rookie blue liner Carter Yakemchuk who returned to the Senators lineup for the first time in five weeks. Ottawa’s first round draft pick in 2024 had been on the shelf with a lower body injury.

An inspired Sens club took the ice for the second and erupted for three goals in the opening five minutes.

Wyatt Bongiovanni picked up a loose puck off the half wall, finding Tyler Boucher with a pass in the slot area. Mr. Boucher snapped home his fifth of the season 2:33 into the period to tie the game 2-2.

Belleville picked up their first lead just under two minutes later. Xavier Bourgault went digging for a loose puck in the Utica goal crease and knifed his 13^th of the year under Comets starter Nico Daws to make 3-2.

Off the ensuing draw, Belleville controlled the play into the visitor’s end. Stephen Halliday fed Belleville’s leading goal getter Arthur Kaliyev for the Uzbekistanian’s 26^th of the year at 4:29.

In the third, Utica came back from two goals down as Nathan Légaré and Brian Halonen both counted to force overtime.

Extra Session

Belleville had the game won in the extra period several times if not for the leather bound larceny of Mr. Daws.

With the contest tied at the end of OT, Mr. Kaliyev scored the shootout winner by going low to the short side on the Utica goalie.

It was the second straight game winner for Mr. Kaliyev as his overtime goal made Belleville winners in their Friday night contest against visiting Rochester.

Mads Søgaard made 19 saves Sunday, not including two clutch stops in the shootout for his 4^th win of the year.

Belleville embarks on a stretch of seven straight road games over the next few weeks, beginning with a stop in Wilkes-Barre, PA Wednesday to play the Penguins. On Friday, the Sens make their first trip of the season to Rhode Island to tangle with the Providence Bruins and then stop in Springfield, MA for their only road game against the Thunderbirds.

In the weeks to come, Belleville travels to Cleveland and finish their four-game season series with the Monsters, then work their way back towards the Bay of Quinte with stops in Rochester and Syracuse, returning home to face the Crunch on February 7.