Gabriel Pizza Gameday Build-Up: Belleville Sens stop in Syracuse for lone game of the weekend

Saturday, November 1, 2025, @ Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning)

The set-up:

For the first time since opening weekend, the Belleville Senators are headed back over the border. They’ll play their lone remaining game this week against the Syracuse Crunch, as they look to rebound from a home loss to Rochester on Wednesday and find the offensive touch and two-way play that saw them pick up three straight wins over the past week. They’ll have a tough test against a Crunch team that has lost only once this season, has won three straight overall, has recorded three consecutive shutouts at home, and beat Belleville 5-3 at CAA Arena a couple of weeks back. However, Syracuse did play last night, while Belleville was off and only travelled, which could give the Sens a leg up in a historically difficult building as a new month of AHL action begins.

Previous History:

The Senators and Crunch met in Belleville just about two weeks ago, with the Crunch skating to a 5-3 victory. Wyatt Bongiovanni, Cam Crotty, and Lassi Thomson all scored for the Senators, who now hold a lifetime record of 22-22-2-3 over 49 lifetime meetings with the Crunch, with their home record against the Crunch dropping to 15-10-0-0. As they head into this second of eight meetings with Syracuse this season, Belleville looks to improve on its lifetime record just its eighth ever win at Upstate Medical University Arena, and hand the Crunch their first home ice loss of the campaign.

Roster Notes:

The Senators made another goaltending swap this morning, sending Leevi Merilainen back to Belleville and recalling Hunter Shepard. Rookie netminder Jackson Parsons remains in Belleville, called-up from the Allen Americans (ECHL), after last week’s injury to Mads Sogaard. Forward Danny Katic, who made his Belleville Sens debut this past Wednesday against Rochester, was returned back to Allen. There’s been no update on Sogaard since he was evaluated earlier in the week, while Jan Jenik and Jamieson Rees (who have missed essentially the full season so far) have been skating this week. No word yet if Wyatt Bongiovanni, who didn’t play on Wednesday, will return to the lineup tonight. Full lineup details available via the Senators social media feeds (@BellevilleSens) at the start of warm-up, about half an hour before puck drop.

Who to Watch:

Stephen Halliday (one goal, two assists) and Xavier Bourgault (three assists) have points in back-to-back games heading into Syracuse tonight. The sophomore, Halliday’s nine points on the season (one goal, eight assists) have him sitting fifth in points in the American Hockey League, while Bourgault’s two shorthanded markers continue to lead the AHL in that category. Phil Daoust scored Belleville’s only goal on Wednesday night against Rochester, giving him points in four of his last five games played and five of eight games this season.

The Crunch have won three straight games and have two players with points in four straight, heading into tonight. Jakob Pelletier has six points (two goals, four assists) over his last four games and his 11 points on the season (four goals, seven assists) are tied for third in the AHL. Conor Geekie also has points in all four games with Syracuse this season (three goals, two assists)  after starting the campaign with their NHL parent club in Tampa where he had one assist in six games. Geekie had a goal and a helper in the Crunch’s win over Utica last night.

Follow the Action:

Puck drop tonight is set for 7:00 p.m. ET from the Upstate Medical University Arena, in Syracuse, New York. Broadcast coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. ET with David Foot, and can be seen on AHLTV on FloHockey or heard free on the Belleville Sens Entertainment Network.

Ticket Info:

Tickets for the all Belleville Sens home games in the first half of the 2025-26 season are now on sale via Ticketmaster or at the Belleville Sens Box Office located inside the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre. Details on season seat memberships, flex packs, premium seating, the Business Edge Program, and more can be found by visiting the Belleville Sens Website. 

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