Sens can’t wrestle points away from Amerks on Teddy Bear Toss night and fall 7-4

The Belleville Senators took on the Rochester Americans for the first of two games back-to-back at the CAA Arena and their first meeting since the Sens 3-2 win on opening night of the AHL season on October 11.

It was also “Teddy Bear Toss” night so following the Senators opening goal fans would throw hundreds of stuffed animals on to the ice to celebrate. At the end of the game, the stuffed toys were being donated to two local hospitals in Belleville as well as the Shriners Children’s hospital in Montreal.

Rochester would open the scoring at 4:59 of the first period when Brett Murray snapped a shot in the top corner past Mads Sogaard who was making his first start in goal for the Sens since October 20 after returning from injury.

The Sens would even things up on the power play at 10:07 when Angus Crookshank deflected a shot in front of the net to make it 1-1. The goal was Crookshank’s 11th of the season and it opened the floodgates for the teddy bears to be tossed across the ice.

Rochester would take the lead again at the 12:30 mark when Murray would get his second goal of the night beating Sogaard from the top of the circle to make it 2-1 Amerks.

Zach MacEwen would even the score for the Sens at 2-2 at the 17:21 mark as he glided down the right wing and blasted one past Rochester goaltender Devon Levi.

Rochester took a 3-2 lead just 5:21 into the second period with Lukas Rousek slapping a shot from high in the slot past Sogaard.

Keean Washkurak levelled the score at 3-3 for Belleville after he jammed home a rebound in front of the net at the 6:34 mark.

The Amerks took the lead for the fourth time on the night at 11:41 with Kale Clague beating Sogaard to make it 4-3.

Rochester would open up a two goal lead less than two minutes later with Tyson Kozak pushing the lead to 5-3. The goal would force Sens head coach David Bell to make a goaltending change pulling Sogaard in favour of Leevi Merilainen.

The Amerks would essentially put the nail in the coffin at 7:34 of the third period when Brett Warren scored short-handed to push the lead to 6-3 for Rochester.

Belleville got a consolation goal at 12:53 while on the power play when Crookshank notched his second goal of the night to make it 6-4 Amerks.

Isak Rosen scored a late empty net goal for Rochester to clinch a 7-4 win for the Amerks.

You can see the complete box score by clicking here.

Fast Facts

• #40 Mads Sogaard made his first start for the Sens since October 20 vs Syracuse.
• #34 Stephen Halliday tallied his eighth, ninth and 10th assists extending his point streak to seven consecutive games.
• #9 Angus Crookshank scored two goals to move to 12 on the season which leads the Sens.
• #17 Zach MacEwen scored his fourth goal of the season.
• #27 Keean Washkurak scored his third goal of the season.
• #4 Jeremy Davies earned his 13th and 14th assists along with his 17th point of the the 2024-25 season to tie Garrett Pilon for the team lead in points.
• #21 Maxence Guenette had two points with his fourth and fifth assists of the year.
• #6 Donovan Sebrango notched his seventh assist.
• The loss to Rochester snapped a five game winning steak for the Senators.
• Belleville was 2-for-4 on the power play and 1-for-2 on the penalty kill.

Highlights

Sound Bytes:

Head Coach Dave Bell on the result:

“I think we had some missed opportunities and I don’t think we shot the puck enough, when it wasn’t (Levi’s) best night. It was probably a missed opportunity to get more pucks on the net, but to get four is nice and to get two on the power play is nice.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on the start:

“I didn’t mind our start. We knew they were a different animal and I thought we were prepared for it. As the game went on, I thought we got a little loose in some areas and the exposed us on that, but I was happy with our start.”

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on the rematch with Rochester tomorrow:

“We’ve played in some loud, big buildings before and had some results, so we’ll hopefully feed off our own crowd. But, we’ll look at some tape tomorrow, clean up some stuff I think we need to clean up, and see if we can flip the script.”

Media Availabilities:

Up Next:

• Saturday, December 14, 2024 – Belleville Senators vs. Rochester Americans – 7:00 p.m. ET (CAA Arena)
• Friday, December 20, 2024 – Belleville Senators @ Laval Rocket – 7:00 p.m. ET (Place Bell)
• Saturday, December 21, 2024 – Belleville Senators vs Laval Rocket – 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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