The Belleville Senators young squad learned a tough lesson from the experienced Toronto Marlies in their season opener on Saturday, showing some flashes of what fans can expect this season, but they dropped a 4-1 decision at Coca Cola Coliseum.
Belleville struggled on special teams in the first period and had a dominant second period, but couldn’t continue momentum after the Marlies made some defensive adjustments in the third period.
Kasimir Kaskisuo’s 32 saves also played a big role Marlies’ win.
Toronto opened the scoring at 4:17 of the first period when Egor Korshkov jumped on power play rebound in front of Marcus Hogberg, with former Marlie Mike Carcone in the penalty box and counted again at 12:32 by way of a Timothy Liljegren one-timer off a pass from Jeremy Bracco, as a 5-on-3 advantage expired.
Bracco would finish the game with three assists and be named the game’s first star.
Despite the sluggish start, Belleville’s speedy skilled youngsters found another gear in the second.
The Senators strung three chances together within the first 6:30 of the frame but couldn’t beat Kaskisuo until the 13:14 mark.
Christian Jaros, back in Belleville after a year with NHL Ottawa started the rush with a pass to Carcone, who zipped another across to Alex Formenton and the former London Knight redirected the puck into the back of the net to make it 2-1.
Formenton tells Quinte News, the team has a lot of promise and should be able to set the pace of games this season.
Belleville had a chance to tie the game within the first minute of the third period, on a Nick Paul penalty shot, but Paul was stymied by the right pad of Kaskisuo.
Toronto’s veteran group locked things down the rest of the way and notched two more goals, a Jordan Schwartz wrist shot from the high slot at 14:36 and Pontus Aberg empty netter about 3:00 later, to round out the scoring.
Belleville Senators forward Jack Rodewald sets up beside Toronto Marlies goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo, during a game at Coca Cola Coliseum, on October 5, 2019. (Photo: Courtesy / Toronto Marlies)
Senators’ Coach Troy Mann says the season opener will hopefully serve as a learning experience moving forward.
Among the standouts for Belleville was 20 year-old rookie forward Josh Norris, who spent the last two seasons at the University of Michigan.
He had four shots on goal but finished with a -2 rating on the afternoon.
Mann says Norris’ line was effective at getting scoring opportunities through the game, but the top line including Nick Paul and Logan Brown, needs to be more productive.
Belleville will open the home portion of its 2019/20 schedule on Friday and Saturday, with a double header against the Binghamton Devils and will play three more home games after that, before getting back on the road.
Festivities on Friday begin at 4:00 p.m. with the free CAA Fan Fest and fans who can’t make it to the rink will be able to hear the game on 800 AM CJBQ, starting at 6:50 p.m.
You can click here to see the box score, shot chart and more stats from Saturday’s game.
