It was a goalie duel and the Belleville Senators came out on top.
The B-Sens defeated the Rochester Americans on Friday night at Blue Cross Arena with a 4-3 shootout win.
Jake Lucchini and Rourke Chartier tallied for the Senators in the shootout while Mads Sogaard stood tall, making three saves on four attempts to secure the win.
“Sogaard – such a presence in the net, such a calming influence back there. I thought he was very good. Now obviously didn’t see much action there for a long stretch of play, but certainly makes saves when you need them, and glad we got the win for him,” said head coach Troy Mann.
The Senators opened the scoring shorthanded as Cole Reinhardt broke out of his nine-game scoreless drought tapping in a cross-ice feed from Maxence Guenette at 6:10 of the first stanza.
Rochester, however, answered in short order to tie the game at 7:36 through a Patrick Polino backhander. The Amerks took a 2-1 lead just under a minute later when Michael Mersch scored his league-leading 17th goal of the season.
In the second, Mark Kastelic capitalized on a loose puck in the crease to draw the Senators even. Belleville would outshoot Rochester 13-4 in the frame. Belleville continued to dominate the play, holding the AHL’s highest-scoring team to without a shot on goal for over 27 minutes of game time.
“I thought that line of Kelly-Kastelic-Reinhardt drove the engine tonight. I thought they were excellent all game long,” said Mann.
Egor Sokolov continued his goal-scoring streak giving the visitors a 3-2 lead 6:25 into the third period. But a seeing-eye shot from Linus Weissbach knotted the game at three apiece with 1:41 remaining to force overtime. Despite the late equalizer, Belleville ultimately came through in extra time.
The Senators take on the Americans again this afternoon at 5 p.m. You can hear the game beginning at 4:50 on 800 CJBQ.
Fast Facts
- Mads Sogaard made 21 saves earning his eighth win.
- Belleville was a perfect 6/6 on the penalty kill against the AHL’s top power play
- Cole Reinhardt broke out of his nine-game scoreless drought.
- Mark Kastelic scored his fifth goal of the season.
- After collecting two assists on the night, Maxence Guenette has six points in his last six games.
- Egor Sokolov has scored four goals in his last three appearances.
- Jonathan Aspirot recorded his first multi-point game of the season.
- Jake Lucchini has scored on both his shootout attempts this season.
Sens on Special Teams:
Power Play: 0/3 | Penalty Kill: 6/6
