Never-say-die Sens sweep Moose with 4-3 comeback win

For the second straight night, the Belleville Senators trailed 3-0 in Manitoba. For the second straight night, it didn’t matter.

Zack MacEwen scored the first two goals of a three-goal comeback on Saturday night, with Wyatt Bongiovanni tying the game in the final minute and Stephen Halliday notching the shootout winner in a 4-3 Belleville victory.

The win was the fourth straight for the Senators, who capped off their five-game road trip with a 4-1 record and improved to 11-4-0-1, putting the team just two points away from leapfrogging both Toronto and Rochester into a potential third-place spot in the AHL North division.

The Moose opened the game’s scoring just under five minutes in, pouncing on a turnover at the end wall and finding a wide open Kevin Conley for a quick 1-0 lead.

Another battle win by the Moose at the end wall led to another quick centering pass and a net front one-timer goal from Chaz Lucius exactly thirteen minutes in. The home side then made it 3-0 off the rush, when a cross-slot pass from Mason Shaw found Nikita Chibrikov who tallied at the 14:17 mark.

MacEwen engineered a response for the Sens 5:32 into the second on a stellar individual effort; the veteran poked the puck free at the Belleville blue line, collected the puck at the neutral zone, sped into the Manitoba end and slid a low shot past goaltender Thomas Milic to narrow the gap to 3-1.

He then followed up with just 1:07 left in the period, when off an offensive zone faceoff win, MacEwen tipped home a long point shot from Wyatte Wylie to pull the Sens within 1.

Then, with 59 seconds left in regulation, Belleville drew even when Wyatt Bongiovanni ripped a top shelf shot home from the right circle, notching his fifth goal of the season.

A bevy of chances for Belleville followed in the overtime period with the Senators outshooting Manitoba 7-2, and 36-23 overall, but the game headed to the team’s seventh shootout of the season.

Halliday opened the shootout with a perfect glove side shot that rang off the post and in to give Belleville the advantage. After the next four shooters didn’t convert, Malcolm Subban closed his pads to deny Ben King in the third round, capping off a perfect shootout and giving Belleville another dramatic comeback win.

You can click here to see the full box score.

Fast Facts

• Wyatt Bongiovanni’s game-tying goal extended his point streak to four games; he has three goals and two assists in that span, in which the Sens are 4-0
• Jeremy Davies extended his point streak to three games with an assist on that same goal; he is now the fifth-highest scoring defenceman in the AHL
• Zack MacEwen has now registered points in three of the five games he’s played since his season debut with Belleville on November 27th
• Malcolm Subban stopped 20 of 23 shots in the Sens net (plus all three shootout attempts) to move his record to 5-3-1

Highlights

Sound Bytes

Forward Zack MacEwen on the team’s mood after the first:

“I think we just told ourselves we needed to stick with it. We kind of got ourselves in the same position we did in the first game of the weekend. I think we believed that we could come back, and it showed.”

MacEwen on his success playing in Winnipeg:

“I think it’s just playing the game I know how to play. It’s confidence, it’s ice time, it’s looks, it’s just believing in myself; I like to get the opportunity to play and play as best as I can.”

Media Availabilities

Up Next:

• Wednesday December 11, 2024 – Belleville Senators vs. Syracuse Crunch – 7:00 p.m. ET (CAA Arena)
• Friday December 13, 2024 – Belleville Senators vs. Rochester Americans – 7:00 p.m. ET (CAA Arena)
• Saturday December 14, 2024 – Belleville Senators vs. Rochester Americans – 7:00 p.m. ET (CAA 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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