Belleville Sens knock off Crunch to cap three-win road trip

The Belleville Senators put an exclamation mark on their three-game road trip through New York State, collecting all six points, with a 4-2 victory over the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday night at Upstate Medical University Arena. It was Belleville’s fifth win in five games against Syracuse this season and third win on the road against the Crunch.

The Senators wasted no time getting things going, with Jacob Larsson beating Hugo Alnefelt by way of a long, low shot from the point, just a minute and a half into the game. Angus Crookshank and Egor Sokolov were causing some commotion in front, allowing the puck to sneak through. Syracuse would tie the game a few minutes later when defenceman Sean Day snuck in from the point at put a rebound past Leevi Merilainen. But the Sens weren’t done in the first, as they took the lead again with just 10 seconds left in the frame. Garrett Pilon made a slick pass to Crookshank as they came over the Crunch blueline and Crookshank wired a wrist shot home to make it 2-1.

Belleville came out flying again in the second period but didn’t extend the lead until just past the 16-minute mark, when Max Guenette fired a point shot past Alnefelt on the power play. Syracuse responded just over a minute later, on a deflection by Lucas Edmonds, and Belleville carried a 3-2 lead to the second intermission.

The Senators would hold off a late Syracuse push and after scoring the shootout winner on Friday in Rochester, Matt Highmore delivered the dagger again on Saturday, burying an empty net goal with about 45 seconds left in regulation time.

Belleville begins a three-game homestand back at CAA Arena on Wednesday, with a matchup against the Utica Comets and a pair of contests with the Rochester Americans.

Fast Facts:

• #4 Jacob Larsson scored his sixth goal of the season and is now on a three game point streak (one goal, two assists). He has eight points (one goal, seven assists) over his last 10 games played.
• #9 Angus Crookshank registered his 20th goal and 20th assist in the first period of Saturday’s game.
• #13 Egor Sokolov chipped in with his 19th assist of the season.
• #14 Rourke Chartier counted his fourth assist of the season.
• #15 Matt Highmore scored his ninth goal of the season.
• #17 Zack MacEwen had an assist and has points in back-to-back games (one goal, one assist).
• #21 Max Guenette picked up his fifth goal of the season and had an assist.
• #22 Garrett Pilon registered his 22nd assist of the season.
• #25 Tyler Kleven notched his 13th assist.
• #35 Leevi Merilainen stopped 18/20 shots he faced for his sixth win of the season.
• The Senators were 1/3 on the power play and 1/1 on the ViewTech Window and Door penalty kill.
• Belleville outshot Syracuse 24-20.

Highlights:

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Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on sweeping the three-game road trip:

“The guys are tired, but satisfied. That was a gutsy win, a gutsy road trip, a gutsy 11 days. To go 5-2 on that stretch, with a lot of travel and tough opponents is a real good result.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on his club’s work ethic Saturday night:

“They gave us what they had. There were some guys who didn’t have much in the tank but everybody gave what they had, and they gave what they needed to win the game. The guys found a way, they dug deep, we shortened some shifts up and they put the team first, and got the win.”

Belleville Sens defenceman Max Guenette on the successful road trip:

“The team feels good right now. It was a really tough two or three weeks for us coming back from the break. We had seven games in 11 nights, so I think the team played together, we played for a full sixty minutes and we got the result we wanted.”

Belleville Sens defenceman Max Guenette on the keys to Saturday’s win:

“That team (Syracuse) is really well coached, they work hard and have some good offensive players. But, I think we were sticking together, putting pucks on net, playing behind their defence and being solid in our zone helping Leevi. I think we managed to do a good job.”

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