Belleville Senators Forward Jack Rodewald takes questions from reporters, after scoring the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory against the Laval Rocket, on November 29, 2017. (Photo: David Foot / Quinte News)
The Belleville Senators made a triumphant return home, after a five game road trip, beating the Laval Rocket 3-2 in overtime on Wednesday night.
Jack Rodewald beat Charlie Lindgren with a wraparound less than a minute into the extra frame to seal the win.
Rodewald told reporters postgame that the whole team pitched in for the win, in a game that saw both teams exchanging chances and momentum.
Coach Kurt Kleinendorst also noted the ebbs and flows in the game that saw Belleville pick up crucial points against a strong divisional opponent.
Belleville looked to open the scoring off a Christian Jaros point shot midway through the first period, which hit the cross bar and despite the referee signalling a goal, never crossed the line.
Then a couple of minutes later Colin White blocked a shot inside the Belleville blue line and pushed the puck down the ice, to beat Lindgren on the breakaway.
Andrew Hammond kept Belleville in the game, making 31 saves on 33 shots, none bigger than a pair of back-to-back, sprawling stops on the edge of the crease, early in the second.
Hammond would eventually get beaten by a quick Daniel Carr shot off a faceoff, about 16 minutes into the middle frame, to tie the game at one.
Belleville answered back two minutes later on Jim O’Brien’s seventh of the season, which made it 2-1.
The power play marker came off a one-time pass from Maxime Lajoie, just moments after O’Brien had hit a cross bar, tipping a shot from the point.
Belleville Senators Forward Jim O’Brien battles for a puck with Laval Rocket Defenceman Tom Parisi, on November 29, 2017. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Chris Terry had the only goal in the third period, with a hard wrist shot through traffic, on the power play, which evened the score at two.
The Rocket would throw a heavy offensive attack at the Belleville net to finish the game, but the Senators held them off, leading to the eventual Rodewald overtime winner.
Despite some nervous moments to finish regulation, Coach Kleinendorst was pleased with his team’s effort overall and highlighted a number of performances that he felt made the difference.
The B-Sens will welcome another divisional rival to Yardmen Arena for the first time on Friday, when the Toronto Marlies come to the Friendly City.
That game can be heard on 800 CJBQ starting with pre-game coverage at 6:50 p.m.
To read the complete box score from Wednesday night’s overtime win click here.
