It took five tries but the Belleville Senators finally got their first win in Cleveland on Friday night.
The Senators scored four unanswered goals, en route to a 5-1 win over the Monsters, in front of more than 12,000 fans at the Rocket Mortgage Field House.
Alex Formenton, Drake Batherson, Christian Wolanin, Jordan Szwarz and Filip Chlapik all scored for Belleville, while Kole Sherwood had the only goal for the Monsters.
Rookie goaltender Joey Daccord made 23 saves in the win, with veteran netminder Brad Theissen stopping just 20 of 25 shots in the loss.
The first period was a fairly even back-and-forth affair until the Monsters took a penalty late in the frame.
During that Belleville power play, the puck bounced out to Formenton in the slot and he used a wrist shot to beat Theissen under the right arm for his 25th of the season.
Mike Carcone and and Max Lajoie earned the assists.
Belleville Senators forward Alex Formenton celebrates a goal with his teammates, during a game against the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage Field House, on February 29, 2020. (Photo: Cleveland Monsters)
The Senators would make it 2-0 less than 2:00 into the second after Vitaly Abramov fired a hard pass out of the corner to Batherson, who one-timed home a low shot for his 15th.
Cleveland’s penalty trouble continued a few minutes later, with Belleville capitalizing on a pair of five-on-three advantages.
Wolanin buried his first of the season on a low wrist shot from the circle, then Szwarz tapped in a back-door pass to make it 4-0.
Batherson and Formenton assisted on both of those power play goals.
Cleveland’s only goal came at 17:07 of the second, on a power play of their own, when Calvin Thurkauf’s shot from the slot bounced off the skates of Sherwood and past Daccord, to cut the Belleville lead to 4-1.
But the B-Sens would reinstate the four-goal lead early in the third when Chlapik redirected a Batherson pass through the legs of Theissen, to finish off the scoring.
Belleville Senators fowrard Vitaly Abramov tries to squeeze past the check of Cleveland’s Trey Fix-Wolansky, during a game at the Rocket Mortgage Field House, on February 29, 2020. (Photo: Cleveland Monsters)
Batherson says he felt more comfortable after a scoreless night on Wednesday, in his return from a lengthy NHL call up in Ottawa.
Senators Coach Troy Mann was pleased with the road effort and says a timeout before the two-man advantages turned the tide for his team, as they were able to set up a game plan with more changes on the man-advantage unit.
The Senators and Monsters will tangle again on Saturday afternoon, with 800 AM CJBQ’s coverage starting at 12:50 p.m. for Eastern Overhead Doors and Deerhaven Farm and Garden.
You can click here to read the box score from Friday night and see highlights from the game below.
