Senators trade blows early, fall 5–2 to Crunch

The Belleville Senators were back on home ice to finish off their home-and-home series versus the Syracuse Crunch, falling 5-2.

On their first shot of the game, on the power play, Syracuse was once again the first to break the seal in back-to-back games. Jakob Pelletier moved the puck up to Conor Geekie on the right circle, who scored his thirteenth to give the Crunch a 1-0 lead. The Senators answered back almost seven minutes later. A shot from Jorian Donovan deflected behind the net to Garrett Pilon, whose pass found a streaking Lassi Thomson, burying it short side to tie the game at 1-1. Later in the frame, the Crunch regained the edge. Geekie forced a takeaway and opened up space in the slot, feeding Pelletier, who scored blocker side for a 2-1 advantage. That momentum was short-lived, however, as Belleville responded just forty-two seconds later. After intercepting a pass in the neutral zone, Carter Yakemchuk used his speed to draw defenders in before wrapping the puck around and scoring his fourth goal in four games, knotting the contest at 2-2.

It took nearly the entire second period for another goal, but the Crunch eventually found their third. On a power-play opportunity, Lucas Mercuri and Dylan Duke connected with Gabriel Szturc on the low circle, where he scored his third of the season to give Syracuse a 3-2 lead heading into the third.

Late in the final twenty minutes, Syracuse extended the gap. During a four-on-four sequence, the Crunch broke out on a two-on-one, and Mitchell Chaffee put the puck past Hunter Shepard to make it 4-2. Syracuse added a final tally off the stick of Chaffee, doubling up, for a 5-2 final.

The Senators play the Crunch again about a week and a half later on February 18th for their sixth meeting of the season. It will be another Winning Wednesday back at CAA Arena, with game time starting at 6:00 p.m.

Belleville’s next challenge in this four game home stand comes against the Hershey Bears (AHL affiliate of Washington Capitals) next Saturday on the 14th of February. This will be the first meeting of the year between these two with puck drop scheduled for 7:00 p.m.