Crookshank, Halliday shine as B-Sens fall in 4-3 shootout

The Northern Division’s first place team the Laval Rockets were in town at the CAA Arena to take on the Belleville Senators on Military appreciation night.

The Sens opened the scoring in the first period to make it 1-0 when Angus Crookshank was left wide open in front of the net and snapped his fifth goal of the season in the top shelf past Rockets goaltender Connor Hughes at the 7:19 mark.

Laval responded just 26 seconds into the second period when Alex Barré-Boulet slid the equalizer past Leevi Merilainen to make it 1-1.

Belleville bounced back just a few minutes later while on the power play with Stephen Halliday scoring his first goal of the campaign with a wrist shot from the point through the five-hole of Hughes to make it 2-1 Sens at the 2:11 mark.

Almost exactly like the second period when Laval scored just seconds in to level the score, the Rockets were able to replicate that magic when Brandon Gignac scored just 33 seconds into the third period to make the score 2-2.

The Sens made a goalkeeper switch just past the 12 minute mark with Merilainen exiting the game for Malcolm Subban who made his Sens debut in 2024.

The loss of Merilainen failed to deter Belleville, with Crookshank scoring his second of the night at 13:28 to give the Sens a 3-2 lead.

Unfortunately, the lead didn’t last with Laval scoring with just 1:40 remaining in the game when Luke Tuch made it 3-3 to force overtime.

3-on-3 overtime solved nothing and that forced another shootout which Laval ended up winning to give the Rockets a 4-3 victory to increase their lead at the top of the division.

You can click here to see the full box score.

Fast facts:

• Malcolm Subban made his first appearance for Belleville in the 2024-25 season.
• Angus Crookshank scored two goals to push his season goal scoring total to six.
• Jeremy Davies had two assists.
• Garret Pilon also had two assists.
• Cole Reinhardt had one assist.
• Leevi Merilainen saved 20 of the 22 shots he faced.
• Subban saved 5 of the 6 shots he faced.

Sound Bytes

Head Coach Dave Bell on the night:

“I’m not thrilled with the way we played after the first period, [but]; a strong penalty kill, it was outstanding; we kill off a 5 on 3 and then score on a 5 on 3. That should’ve gotten us a win, but some systematic stuff that we didn’t do well, and the commitment to playing the way we need to play wasn’t there after the first.”

Bell on Stephen Halliday’s two-point night:

“He did a lot of extra work this week; he worked with our skating coach, our skills coach, he was out early, and lo and behold, he gets results; it’s funny how that works.”

Highlights:

Media Availabilities:

Up Next:

• Saturday November 9, 2024 – Belleville vs Laval (7:00 p.m. ET – CAA Arena) (Loyalist College Student & Alumni Night)

Ticket Info:

Tickets for all games through the first half of the 2024-25 Belleville Sens season are now on sale via Ticketmaster, by emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com, or at the Belleville Sens Box Office at CAA Arena during select hours.

Fans looking to get a head start on locking up tickets for any game on the schedule can do so now by becoming a season seat member, purchasing a flex pack membership, or putting down a deposit for a group experience. More information on those ticket options, plus details on premium seating and Business Elite packages is available by visiting the Belleville Sens website or emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com.

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