Washkaruk scores as Senators fall to Penguins at CAA Arena

It was a case of deja vu for the Belleville Senators, who once again outshot their opponent heavily but couldn’t come out with a victory. Belleville dropped a 6-1 decision to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins) at CAA Arena on Friday night.

Belleville was looking for a better start on home ice, but the Penguins came strong out of the gate. Sophomore forward Avery Hayes opened the scoring with a long shot that eluded Mads Sogaard about five minutes in. Sam Poulin counted for the Penguins a little over a minute later. Valtteri Puustinen would make it 3-0 before the end of the period, scoring on a power play about a minute and a half after the Pens’ second marker. Despite trailing, the Sens outshot Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 13-10 in the period.

The Penguins extended their lead a couple of minutes into the second frame by way of former Senator Boris Katchouk. Sogaard was pulled in favour of rookie goaltender Michael Simpson, and Belleville would stop the proverbial bleeding 1:30 later. Keean Washkurak took a feed from Hayden Hodgson and put a nice deke on Joel Blomqvist, sliding his fourth of the season past the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton netminder. But, another former Senator would re-instate the four-goal lead late in the period, as Boko Imama notched his third of the season.

The Sens would continue to try their best to beat Blomqvist but were unsuccessful over 11 more third-period shots (for a total of 40 in the game). Poulin would count his second of the match at 7:36.

You can see the complete box score by clicking here.

Fast Facts

• #5 Wyatt Bongiovanni had a game-high five shots on goal
• #24 Jan Jenik was credited with his 4th assist of the season
• #27 Keean Washkurak scored his 4th of the season
• #31 Michael Simpson stopped 14 of 16 shots he faced
• #40 Mads Sogaard stopped 8 of 12 shots he faced
• #42 Hayden Hodgson picked up an assist and has points in back-to-back games
• The Senators were 0/3 on the Lifestyle Home Products Power play and 2/3 on the ViewTech Window and Door Penalty Kill

Highlights:

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on the result:

“Obviously, if you let the first three in it’s a tough road mentally and physically, but I thought the guys did well. That’s a really good team and to give up three that you’d probably want back, we could have folded the tent, but I thought we outplayed them and outchanced them the entire game. We were probably the better team, but that doesn’t matter. They whacked us pretty good and we can take some things form it, but it’s another loss.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on keeping the offence up, even with all of the call-ups due to injuries in Ottawa:

“Guys are in good spots and we’ve been working on it. Obviously, we’d like to see them go in, everybody wants to score, but you get more worried when you’re not getting the chances. Guys are in good spots, getting different chances in different areas of the ice, so eventually, this dam is going to break.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on his team’s resilience:

“That’s one thing that good teams do, they stick together and stick up for each other. That’s a non-negotiable for us, we play five tight at every whistle and nobody takes liberties on our group, and those guys stepped up.”

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Up Next:

• Sunday, January 12, 2025 – Belleville Senators vs Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins – 3:00 p.m. ET (CAA Arena) (Family Fun Day)
• Wednesday, January 15, 2025 – Belleville Senators at Lehigh Valley Phantoms – 7:05 p.m. ET (PPL Center)
• Friday, January 17, 2025 – Belleville Senators at Hershey Bears – 7:00 p.m. ET (Giant Center)
• Saturday, January 18, 2025 – Belleville Senators at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Mohegan Arena)

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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