The Senators engineered a comeback on Friday against the host Laval Rocket to earn a point in an overtime loss. (Belleville Senators photo)
It was a mixed bag for the Belleville Senators last week.
After thrilling a capacity crowd of screaming school children at CAA Arena Wednesday morning with a 4-0 whitewash of the visiting Toronto Marlies, the Sens took their act on the road to Laval to try to harness the Rocket.
On Friday, Belleville scratched out a valuable point in the two game set opener by virtue of a 4-3 overtime loss. The following night, the North Division-leading Rocket flexed their offensive muscle in a 7-2 setback that halted Belleville’s undefeated-in-regulation streak at five games.
After a successful road trip that saw them sweep three rivals in Upstate New York, Belleville hosted their first-ever school day game against the Toronto Marlies. More than 4,000 school children attended the game and witnessed history as rookie goaltender Jackson Parsons blanked the visiting Marlies, stopping all 25 Toronto volleys for his first ever AHL goose egg.
The Embrun, ON native admitted there was a different energy in The Garage Wednesday morning.
“It was different, the kids made a lot of noise but it was a lot of fun,” Mr. Parsons said, adding the club defending his goal came up big time and again by clogging shooting lanes and clearing the front of the Belleville net.
“The guys have been battling really hard in front of me and when they do that, we have a chance to win every night.”
Oskar Pettersson, Carter Yakemchuk, Arthur Kaliyev, and Jan Jenik all scored for the Senators.
Belleville commenced a four-game road trip with a pair of games in Laval against the Rocket, and came out on the wrong end of a 4-3 overtime defeat in their first visit to Place Bell this season on Friday. Mr Kaliyev extended his goal-scoring streak to seven games by scoring his 10th goal of the campaign while defender Scott Harrington tallied his first goal as a Senator.
The Great Dane in Belleville’s braided barn, Mads Sogaard, consistently came up big for the Sens, making 33 saves in the contest.
With the guests down a goal and Mr. Sogaard on the bench for an extra skater, Belleville would work the puck to a wide open Xavier Bourgault whose one timer with 28 seconds left tied the game at 3-3, stunning the crowd at Place Bell.
But it was Laval’s leather lunged faithful going home happy. Mr. Sogaard and a Belleville defender became entangled with one another at the side of the net and Alex Belzile spotted Adam Engstrom who had an open 4’x6’ to shoot at. The Laval defender made no mistake, rifling home the game winner at the 2:50 mark.
The following evening Laval rode a wave of momentum and the Senators couldn’t stop a barrage of bears from Laval Rocket fans, or goals from the Rocket themselves, losing 7-2 at Place Bell during the Laval Teddy Bear Toss.
Belleville was only down a goal heading into the third period, after Phil Daoust and Wyatt Bongiovanni scored earlier in the game, but the Rocket would take off with four goals in the final frame and run away with things in a feisty and physical affair. Mr. Parsons suffered his first defeat of the season, stopping 30 of 37 shots against.
After a two game set in Winnipeg this week, Belleville closes out the month of November at home with two games against Providence. The Bruins are at CAA Arena Saturday night and again on Sunday afternoon. For tickets, visit https://bellevillesens.com/tickets/.
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