The Belleville Senators had some trouble picking up momentum in a 6-3 loss to the Utica Comets (Vancouver Canucks) on Friday night.
Joseph LaBate, Rudolfs Balcers and Darren Archibald all scored for the Sens, but some discipline issues and sloppy play in the defensive zone led to a pair of goals by Utica’s Justin Bailey, with singles from Seamus Malone, Carter Camper, Kole Lind and Sven Baertschi.
Joey Daccord made 24 saves on 30 shots in the loss for Belleville, with Michael DiPietro stopping 30 of 33 in the Comet’s win.
The loss, coupled with a Rochester (Buffalo Sabres) overtime win at home to Lehigh Valley (Philadelphia Flyers), shrinks Belleville’s lead atop the AHL North Division to six points, with 21 games to play.
Utica got on the board just over 6:00 when Stefan Leblanc pinched into the near corner and threw a pass out to Malone, who beat Daccord with a backhand.
LaBate would answer for Belleville at 16:09, tapping in a loose puck during a scramble around the net, but Belleville couldn’t keep the momentum going and allowed Camper to reinstate the lead less than 2:00 later, finishing off a nice pass from Reid Boucher, after a turnover at the Senators’ line.
It was 2-1 after the first.
Belleville Senators forward Filip Chlapik looks to shoot, during a game against the Utica Comets, on February 21, 2020. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Alex Formenton took a major penalty for elbowing Bailey late in the first and while it looked like the big Comets’ forward might have to leave the game, he would return and make an impact on that power play just 36 seconds into the period, by hopping on a rebound in front to make it 3-1.
Belleville cut the lead back to one after Hubert Labrie slid a pass to Filip Chlapik on the left side and he floated the puck across to Balcers, who beat DiPietro sliding across, at 3:43.
But Bailey would kill the momentum again just about 4:00 later when he barrelled in on goal from the near side and put the puck between the legs of Daccord, who was backing up into the goal.
Archibald’s eighth of the season looked to give the B-Sens some life late in the period when he rifled a wrist shot up high blocker-side on DiPietro to make it 4-3, but Utica would add two more in the third.
First at 11:17 after Bailey lifted a puck out to John Stevens at centre ice and he slipped a pass through to Lind, who made a nice move to score on the breakaway.
Then, Vitaly Abramov and Jack Dougherty would go off for slashing and delay of game just 30 seconds apart, a couple of minutes later and Nikolay Goldobin would find Baertschi with a back door pass to round out the scoring.
Belleville Senators forward Darren Archibald had a goal against the Utica Comets on February 21, 2020. It was his return to Belleville after being acquired in a trade with Toronto earlier in the week. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Senators Head Coach Troy Mann says the Comets were rested and took advantage of another slow start by his team.
He added that he felt Archibald made a noticeable impact in his return to the Belleville lineup.
Belleville is back in action on Saturday night when they welcome the Manitoba Moose (Winnipeg Jets) to CAA Arena, to finish off a four game season series.
Belleville is 1-1-1-0 against Manitoba on the season.
Filip Gustavsson is expected to start in goal with Mann saying Aaron Luchuk, also returning to Belleville after a trade from Toronto this week, could get into the lineup.
Mann also noted that defenceman Frank Corrado could play as well after sitting out a few games.
Gametime is 7:05 p.m. at CAA Arena, with 800 AM CJBQ’s broadcast beginning at 6:50 p.m. for Eastern Overhead Doors and Deerhaven Farm and Garden.
You can click here to see the box score from Friday night and see highlights from the game below.
