Game Day Build-Up: Sens kick off six game season series with Crunch in Syracuse

Nov.11/22 @ Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Presented by Carpenters Union Local 397

The Set-Up:

A month heavy with divisional games continues for the Belleville Senators (4-5-1-0) tonight, as they play their first of only two road games in November in Syracuse, against the Crunch (2-6-1-0). The Senators are coming off a split at home last weekend with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (3-2 W) and Toronto Marlies (5-2 L) and are looking to make another step forward, despite still dealing with a rash of injuries to some of their top players. The Crunch, meanwhile, are off to an uncharacteristically slow start. Syracuse has won just twice this season and only once in the last seven games, but are always a tough opponent, especially at the Upstate Medical University Arena.

Previous History:

The Senators and Crunch meet tonight for the 27^th time in Belleville’s franchise history, with the Sens holding an all-time record of 10-13-2-1 against their cross-border rivals. While the Senators are 8-5-0-0 vs Syracuse in their lifetime at home, the Upstate Medical University Arena has not been a friendly place, where Belleville has just a 2-8-2-1 record. Last season, Belleville was 3-4-1-0 in eight meetings against the Crunch. They’ll play only six times this season.

Roster Notes:

The Senators left six players back in Belleville due to injury, for this short trip. Roby Jarventie (week-to-week), Jonathan Aspirot (week-to-week), Jayce Hawryluk (week-to-week), Viktor Lodin (day-to-day), Kevin Mandolese (day-to-day) and Cory Conacher (timeline TBD) are all home getting treatment for various injuries. Philippe Daoust will return to Belleville’s lineup tonight, after missing the last seven games due to injury and Antoine Bibeau is back as well, after missing six games. He’ll back up Mads Søgaard, with Xavier Bernard being the Sens only healthy scratch tonight. The Senators will also add Nick Albano on the back end this evening, after signing a PTO from the Sens ECHL affiliate, the Allen Americans.

Who to Watch:

Rookie forward Philippe Daoust returns to Belleville’s lineup tonight, after missing seven games due to injury and brings with him a three-game point streak. The 21 year-old from Barrie, ON had four points (one goal, three assists) over his first three games played, before being injured. He’ll play on the left side of Belleville’s top line tonight, alongside Rourke Chartier and Jake Lucchini.

On the Crunch side, former American Hockey League Rookie of the Year Alex Barre-Boulet has had a rampant start to the season, notching 13 points (two goals, 11 assists), but has just one assist over his last five games played. Despite cooling off a bit Barre-Boulet is poised to break out at any time, especially against Belleville, after scoring 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in seven games against the Senators last season.

Follow the action:

Tonight’s game can be seen on AHL TV, or heard live on the Belleville Sens Entertainment Network. Pregame coverage starts at 6:45 p.m. (ET) with David Foot.

Ticket info:

Tickets for all Belleville Sens home games are available via Ticketmaster or at the CAA Arena Box Office, with more information on group experiences, promotional packs and more, available on the Belleville Sens website.

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