Senators suffer late loss in Rochester

It was a tough start to the Belleville Senators four-game road trip on Wednesday night.

The Senators fell 4-3 to the Rochester Americans, after a back-and-forth affair that saw a total of four power play goals and a late game-winner at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.

Jake Lucchini, Mark Kastelic and Roby Jarventie all scored for Belleville, while Mads Sogaard stopped 20 of 24 shots in his return from injury.  Zac Leslie had a pair of assists, with Lucchini also adding one to his team-leading point total. Cole Reinhardt and Egor Sokolov also chipped in with assists.

Jack Quinn,Mark Jankowski, Sean Malone, and Michael Mersch found the net for Rochester and Aaron Dell earned the win making 26 saves on 29 shots. Quinn also had a multi-point night for the Amerks.

It took the Sens a bit to shake the bus legs, as they were outshot heavily throughout the first period. Belleville went close to 15 minutes before registering a shot, with Sogaard making 10 saves within the same time frame.

They would capitalize on a power play chance late in the first, when Lucchini one-timed home a pass from Leslie at 18:30, scoring his fifth goal of the season (and team-leading seventh point) and giving Belleville a 1-0 lead.

Sokolov earned the second assist on the play and the Senators carried that lead into the second period.

Rochester tied the game on a power play of their own, at 15:27 of the second. Quinn buried his sixth of the season to extend his lead in the American Hockey League’s rookie scoring race.

But, Belleville would get ahead again on another power play marker just about a minute later. Jarventie scored his first of the season from Lucchini and Leslie to make it 2-1.

Belleville also took a slight lead on the shot clock at the end of the period, putting 15 shots on goal in the frame.

The teams would trade quick goals early in the third period as well.

Jankowski scored for Rochester, beating Sogaard on an odd-man rush just 1:o7 into the period. Kastelic put the Senators back in front 3-2 just 13 seconds later with his second goal of the season (and second in as many games), assisted by Reinhardt.

That lead would only last a couple of minutes, before Sean Malone scored on another power play, putting a rebound past Sogaard to tie the game 3-3. Amerks Captain Mersch scored the winner inside the final couple of minutes to round out the night.

Head Coach Troy Mann feels his team deserved a better result.

“Like most home teams they made a push in the first 10 minutes but I thought when we got our forecheck established, specifically the Kastelic line, I thought we played a real good hockey game, ” says Mann. “Then at 3-2 we take an undisciplined penalty in the offensive zone and for some reason those types of penalties always end up hurting you, they tied it up. The fourth one was tough with a broken stick, so now we just have to reset. I think there have been three times now where we’ve played well enough to win, but unfortunately didn’t come away with the two points.”

Mann acknowledged the teams recent third period struggles, but says that’s just something his young group will have to figure out as the season moves on.

“You’ve got to find ways to close those types of games when you have the lead. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case here early in the season, but hopefully that will change moving forward. I do feel like if we most of our games like we did tonight, we’ll get to two points.”

Lucchini echoed Mann’s comments about looking ahead.

“We’re just focused on our game Friday in Cleveland. We obviously would have liked to win, but we’re just going to shift our focus to Friday,” said Lucchini, who attributed his individual success to how well he’s fitting in, in Belleville.

“I just really enjoy it here. Obviously I’m getting a really good opportunity and I’m super excited to be here. The guys I play with are great and we’ve been clicking real well. It’s been great.”

Belleville’s four-game road trip continues with games on Friday November 5 and Saturday November 6, in Cleveland against the Monsters. Puck drop for both matchups is set for 7:oo p.m and you can hear the game live on 800 AM CJBQ in the Quinte Region, or on AHL TV.

The Senators return home to CAA Arena for Military Appreciation Night on Saturday November 13, then host the Bridgeport Islanders in a matinee on Sunday November 14.

Single-game tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster by stopping by the CAA Arena Box Office. Season Ticket Memberships and Flex Packs are also available, with more information available at bellevillesens.com.

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