Senators can’t complete comeback against Comets to begin road trip

It’s been a rough stretch on the road for the Belleville Senators in 2025.

After flying out of the gate with one of the best home records in the American Hockey League through the 2024 portion of the campaign, the Sens have started the calendar year on a losing skid, which has now stretched to seven. Belleville was beaten 5-2 by the Utica Comets on Wednesday at the Adirondack Bank Center, in Utica, to round out the eight-game season series between the North Division foes.

Utica would draw first blood, and not the way some expected, because there were no early fisticuffs to start the game. The Comets quickly got into the Belleville zone and got a shot on net, with the rebound eventually falling to Nolan Foote who counted for the fifth time against Belleville this season. The Senators had a few chances against Nico Daws at the other end, but couldn’t bury any and went to the dressing room down 1-0 after 20 mins.

Utica would extend their lead early in the second by way of a Brian Halonen backhand from the slot, through traffic. But, Belleville would get back within a goal a little more than 10 minutes later. Stephen Halliday took a feed from behind the Utica net and snapped his 15th goal of the season past Daws to make it 2-1. Despite outshooting the Comets 12-6 in the period, the Senators couldn’t get even before the buzzer.

The Senators did get even 2:20 into the third period, when captain Garrett Pilon smashed in a one-timer on the power play, for his seventh goal of the season, assisted by Filip Roos and Phil Daoust. But, the tie lasted less than a minute. Two Senators players collided in the defensive zone and the puck found its way to Nathan Legare, who would score for the seventh time this season. A funny bounce off the digital dasher boards at the Adirondack Bank Center would cost the Sens a few minutes later as well, with the puck falling into Comets possession and Mike Hardman wristing one past Merilainen to make it 4-2 Utica. Max Willman added an empty net goal to finish off the scoring.

With the loss, the Senators finish the season series with a 4-2-2-0 record against the Comets, as they get set to head to Rochester for a Friday meeting with the Americans.

You can see the complete box score by clicking here.

Fast Facts:

• #19 Jamieson Rees was credited with his sixth assist of the season
• #20 Phil Daoust picked up his seventh assist of the season and had a game-high five shots on goal
• #22 Garrett Pilon scored his seventh goal of the season
• #34 Stephen Halliday scored his 15th goal of the season and had three shots on goal
• #48 Filip Roos notched his 11th assist of the season
• The Senators were 1/3 on the Lifestyle Home Products Power Play and 3/3 on the ViewTech Window and Door Penalty Kill
• Belleville outshot Utica 32-27

Highlights:

Media Availabilities:

Sound Bytes:

Head Coach Dave Bell on what led to the loss:

“We need to start on time. That was one of the keys because we’ve had some games against this group where we haven’t started on time and had to push back, and it was the same thing tonight. We fell behind and it’s taxing on the skill guys to get us back in it. I thought that after we went down two periods, the guys pushed and played. They’re a desperate team, as we are, but they got that lead and another quick one, and that took the wind out of our sails.”

Head Coach Dave Bell on the lack of blowback from a physical game in Belleville on Monday:

“Hodgy’s a pretty well respected guy and, to be quite honest, I don’t think they have a guy over there who can answer the bell. So, we just played hockey.”

Head Coach Dave Bell on Stephen Halliday’s impact on the game:

“You could see, especially Stephen who wasn’t happy with his game the other night, he tried to dig in. He won more puck battles, he won more 50/50 battles and as a result, he scored the goal from the middle of the ice, he wasn’t playing on the outside. That’s good to see and we need more of it going down the stretch here.”

Head Coach Dave Bell on the team’s focus heading into Rochester on Friday:

“Our main focus is probably to see how many bodies we have. We took some whacks tonight, took some hits, so I don’t even know what the gameplan will be. We’ll have to reassess and see what we have for bodies tomorrow morning, see who’s banged up and sore. Then, make a gameplan once we see what bodies we have left.”

Up Next:

• Friday, February 21, 2025 – Belleville Senators @ Rochester Americans – 7:05 p.m. ET (Blue Cross Arena)
• Sunday, February 23, 2025 – Belleville Senators @ Cleveland Monsters – 12:00 p.m. ET (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse)
• Monday, February 24, 2025 – Belleville Senators @ Cleveland Monsters – 7:00 p.m. ET (Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse)
• Wednesday, February 26, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs Manitoba Moose – 7:00 p.m. ET (CAA Arena)
• Friday, February 28, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs Manitoba Moose – 7:00 p.m. ET (CAA Arena) (Women in Sports Night)

Ticket Info:

Tickets for all 2024-25 Belleville Sens home games 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 for details on other ticketing options can click the following links for more on  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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