B-Sens battle hard, but fall to Rocket on consecutive nights

The Belleville Senators outshot the Laval Rocket for a second night in a row, but again, fell by a 3-2 scoreline. Saturday night’s rematch ended in regulation time and saw the Rocket pass Belleville, into fifth place in the American Hockey League’s North Division, with Belleville dropping into sixth . The Senators are now sitting outside of the playoff places, but still more than in the race and control their fate, with 11 games left to play.

Laval would start things off on a broken play at 5:07 of the first. Sens defender Jacob Larsson cut off a slap pass across the slot from Lias Andersson, and Emile Heineman was able to poke it over the line, with Mads Sogaard moving in the opposite direction. The B-Sens would even things near the end of the period, as Zack Ostapchuk tipped in a pass from Tyler Kleven, on the power play. Max Guenette was credited with the second assist and despite a slow start, Belleville outshot Laval 10-6 in the period.

The Rocket would extend the lead with a pair of power play goals in the second. The first, from Philippe Maillet less than two minutes into the period, and the next. Laval’s leading scorer was able to capitalize on a rebound to make it 3-1 Rocket after 40 minutes. The Sens held an 18-16 shot lead after two periods.

Belleville got close in the third, by way of a Max Guenette deflection goal at 15:46, but they couldn’t get the equalizer. The Senators finish their four-game home stand on Sunday afternoon against the Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL affiliate of the New York Rangers), with puck drop set for 2:00 p.m.

Fast Facts:

• #3 Dillon Heatherington had an assist.
• #10 Zack Ostapchuk scored his 14th goal of the season and had four shots on net.
• #13 Egor Sokolov picked up an assist and had three shots on goal.
• #21 Max Guenette notched his sixth goal of the season, plus an assist. He was named the game’s second star.
• #25 Tyler Kleven picked up an assist.

Highlights:

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on Saturday’s loss:

“I’ve got to give the guys credit, they played right to the end and they played extremely hard. Especially in the third, giving up six shots, that’s back-to-back nights we gave up 19 shots and 21 shots. So, we’re obviously doing something well defensively and defending OK, but two power play goals against is tough.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on his message to the team:

“I told the guys that it’s a fine line between winning and losing. We went on stretches where we won seven in a row and pucks were going in. Tonight, we hit some posts, we had pucks behind them and we just didn’t find a way to get them in. A month ago, those were going in, so we just need to find a way to get on the other side of the line.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on slipping into sixth in the North Division standings:

“It’s not dire straights, we still control our own fate and play almost everybody in our division the rest of the way, except for tomorrow. There’s still lots of points to be had, you can still catch almost everybody if you go on a run, so we’re not worried about the standings, we’re worried about tomorrow’s game and preparing for next week. We’ll gather as many points as we can and see where the dust settles at the end.”

Media Availabilities:

Up Next:

• Sunday March 24, 2024 vs Hartford Wolf Pack (New York Rangers) – 2:00 p.m. (Sunday Fun Day)
• Friday March 29, 2024 @ Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens) – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday March 30, 2024 @ Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens) – 3:00 p.m.
• Friday April 5, 2024 vs Springfield Thunderbirds (St. Louis Blues) – 7:00 p.m.
• Saturday April 6, 2024 vs Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) – 7:00 p.m. (Country Night presented by Cool 100)

Ticket Info:

Tickets for all Belleville Sens home games for the remainder of the 2023-24 season are now on sale online, via Ticketmaster or the Belleville Sens Ticket Hub, by visiting the Belleville Sens Box Office at the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre, or by emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com. Box Office hours are available by clicking here.

Fans looking to buy second half tickets can secure those seats now, by purchasing season seat memberships, flex packs, group experiences or Business Elite memberships. 

The full 2023-24 Belleville Senators regular season schedule can be found by clicking here.

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