Belleville Sens outlast Amerks in playoff-style affair at CAA Arena

A pair of back-to-back shorthanded markers helped pace the Belleville Senators to a 6-5 win over the Rochester Americans, in a feisty and physical battle, at CAA Arena on Saturday night.

Belleville opened the scoring through captain Logan Shaw after he broke in alone, to beat Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen shorthanded at the 13:21 mark of the first period. The Senators continued to extend their lead as Cole Reinhardt notched another shorthanded tally. Jake Lucchini would also find the back of the net to give Belleville a 3-0 lead heading into the intermission.

The second frame saw Belleville and Rochester trade goals before the mid-way point of the period. Amerks’ forward Peter Tischke got the visitors on the board at 5:32. Less than three minutes later, the Senators restored their two-goal advantage when Matthew Wedman redirected his ninth of the season off a low feed from Jacob Bernard-Docker.

Mark Kastelic kick-started a high-scoring final twenty minutes of play scoring his ninth goal of the season. Rochester began mounting their comeback, scoring three unanswered goals to cut Belleville’s lead to 5-4. The tallying continued as Micheal Del Zotto made it 6-4, and set a franchise record for goals in a season by a defenceman with ten. The Amerks once again cut the deficit to one, with the goaltender pulled. In spite of the late push, Belleville held on to earn three out of a possible four points over their two-game weekend set with Rochester.

Fast Facts

• Kevin Mandolese made 23 saves to win his fourth consecutive start.
• For the first time this season Belleville scored twice shorthanded.
• Michael Del Zotto set a franchise record for goals in a season by a defenceman with ten (22 games played).

Sens on Special Teams:

Power Play: 1/4 | Penalty Kill:4/6

Sound Bytes:

Head Coach Troy Mann
“I thought both games (this weekend) we came out with a purpose, we didn’t really like our game in Hartford, and that was a tough one to get up for even though you need points, but these last two games, we talked a lot about having the opportunity to potential catch Rochester and the only way you can catch them is to beat them.”

“I think physicality is one of our strengths, and when you start putting Bishop in the lineup regularly, and you add Sabourin, Wedman has been a physical presence all year I think that’s one of his strengths and Kastelic.  When you start looking at the makeup of our team, it has to be one of our strengths, and they had pushback as well, and that’s why the game was so feisty. We were ready for that type of game, and if a team wants to play that style, I think we certainly got the bodies and the type of personality to counteract that. ”

Links:

|Box Score |Highlights |Troy Mann|

On the Schedule:

The Belleville Senators return to action Wednesday afternoon, hosting the Providence Bruins. You can hear the game on the Senators’ Official Broadcast Partner 800 AM CJBQ or see it on AHL TV. Coverage begins at 2:50 p.m. with Jack Miller and David Foot.

Ticket info:

CAA Arena is back to 100% capacity, with no vaccine mandate in place. Other local and provincial COVID-19 guidelines must still be followed, including the wearing of masks inside CAA Arena, unless actively eating or drinking. Tickets for tonight’s game are available via Ticketmaster or the CAA Arena Box Office (open today 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.)

Tickets for further Belleville Sens home games this season can be purchased through the same methods. Season Ticket Memberships and Flex Packs are also available with more information available at bellevillesens.com.

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