Senators drop Friday night matchup with Amerks

The Belleville Senators couldn’t keep up their winning ways against the Rochester Americans on Friday night, falling 4-1 at CAA Arena.

Belleville came charging out of the gates to start the game, but it was the Americans who would open the scoring midway through the frame. Tyson Jost blocked a shot in his end of the rink and was able to break down the other way and push the puck past Leevi Merilainen. Aleksandr Kisakov would score a little under a minute and a half later to make it 2-0 after the first.

The Amerks extended their lead with a pair of power play goals in the second, from Lukas Rousek on a passing play around the net, then from Brett Murray on a deflection in front, to open up a 4-0 lead. Belleville would get one back with under five minutes left in the period, courtesy of an Angus Crookshank deflection from a Matt Highmore shot. Donovan Sebrango earned the second assist on the play.

The Senators outshot Rochester 12-8 in the third period, but couldn’t beat Levi again, and fail to earn a point against the Amerks for the first time this season. The two teams will tangle again on Saturday night at CAA Arena.

Fast Facts:

• #6 Donovan Sebrango recorded his fourth assist of the season.
• #9 Angus Crookshank scored his 22nd goal of the season and had four shots on net, extending his point streak to three games (three goals, one assist). He was also named the game’s third star.
• #15 Matt Highmore picked up his 18th assist and has points in back-to-back games (one goal, one assist)
• #35 Levi Merilainen made his third consecutive start and stopped 31 of 35 shots against.
• The Senators were 0/2 on the power play and 3/6 on the View Tech Window and Door penalty kill.

Highlights:

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on tonight’s result:

“Rochester was the better team, but we weren’t the worst team. I just thought the start was great and we fell off and lost the momentum. Give them credit, they played a pretty good game, but it was just a dead game”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on improving the result in the rematch with the Amerks tomorrow:

“I think we have to stay out of the penalty box. Some of them you can’t help, because I thought they were good hockey plays, but we have to use our whole bench and play to our identity, like I always say. I know they’re playing back-to-back, they’re sick and we’re sick, but we have to find a way tomorrow to win the week.”

Up Next:

• Saturday March 2, 2024 vs Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) – 7:00 p.m. (Pride Night)
• Wednesday March 6, 2024 @ Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) – 11:00 a.m.
• Saturday March 9, 2024 @ Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) – 7:00 p.m.
• Wednesday March 13, 2024 vs Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) – 7:00 p.m. (Winning Wednesday)