Senators shutout by Comets in weekend opener at CAA Arena

The Belleville Senators seemed to have their legs coming out of the All-Star Break, but ran into a hot goaltender and were shutout 2-0 by the Utica Comets on Friday night.

There was no scoring in the first, with Belleville outshooting Utica 12-7, but the Comets would take the lead early in the second. Chase Stillman got a stick on a point shot from Samuel Leberge and it squeezed past Mads Sogaard to open the scoring.

The Sens were outshot 10-9 in the second and again 14-9 in the third, with the only other Comets goal coming by way of an empty net marker from Brian Halonen. Comets tender Isaac Poulter made a total of 31 saves to earn the shutout.

Belleville and Utica will meet again tomorrow night on Women in Hockey Night at CAA Arena. 

Fast Facts:

• #14 Rourke Chartier made his AHL season debut, after a stint with the NHL Senators and had a game-high four shots on goal. He was named the game’s second star.
• #21 Max Guenette made his return from a four-game injury layoff.
• #32 Oskar Petterssen made his home debut for Belleville.
• #40 Mads Sogaard stopped 29 of 30 shots against and was named the game’s third star.
• The Senators were 0/3 on the power play and 1/1 on the ViewTech Window and Door Penalty Kill

Highlights:

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens forward Matt Highmore on the game:

“It was a tough game. I feel like we didn’t necessarily bring our best. We were good in spurts, but just didn’t quite sustain it over 60 minutes and ultimately fell a bit short.”

Belleville Sens forward Matt Highmore on avoiding frustrating against a hot goaltender:

“We just have to continue to do what we do well. Getting pucks to the net and bodies in front, and we certainly didn’t do that enough tonight. It’s something we need to look at and tomorrow night will be a different story.”

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Up Next:

• Saturday February 10, 2024 vs Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) – 7:00 p.m. ET (Women in Hockey Night)
• Wednesday February 14, 2024 vs Syracuse Crunch (Tampa Bay Lightning) – 7:00 p.m. ET 
• Friday February 16, 2024 vs Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) – 7:00 p.m. ET
• Saturday February 17, 2024 @ Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) – 7:00 p.m. ET
• Monday February 19, 2024 vs Hershey Bears (Washington Capitals) – 2:00 p.m. ET (Belly’s Birthday Bash)