Egor Sokolov once again played hero, scoring his second overtime winner of the season as the Belleville Senators completed a two-game weekend sweep of the Toronto Marlies with a 5-4 victory in extra time over their Provincial rivals, Saturday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum.
Like Friday night, Belleville took a 2-0 lead after the first period. The connection of linemates Mark Kastelic and Logan Shaw provided the markers in the opening frame.
The second period began with an early marker from Nick Robertson, who got Toronto on the board, scoring 1:48 into the stanza to make it 2-1. The Senators showed their resolve by reinstating their two-goal lead 16 seconds later when Andrew Agozzino redirected a shot past Erik Kallgren. The two sides continued to alternate tallies in the stanza as Antti Suomela capitalized on a Belleville turnover to cut the deficit to one. Micheal Del Zotto then gave the visitors a 4-2 lead after forty minutes of play.
The scoring resumed at the 1:06 mark of the third, as once again, the Marlies brought themselves back to within one, this time through Semyon Der-Arguchintsev. Marlies’ forward Alex Steeves collected the elusive game-tying goal at the half-way mark of the period to force extra time.
A fast-paced overtime saw Lassi Thomson and Andrew Agozzino hit goal posts moments before Egor Sokolov ultimately notched his second game-winner against the Toronto Marlies in as many games.
“For us to be able to get four points at a critical juncture of the season, the Marlies are ahead of us, so it’s not so much them getting the extra point, we needed the extra point more than them,” said Head Coach Troy Mann. “It’s always nice to win an afternoon game and sit back and watch the scores tonight. Take a day off tomorrow and get back at it with a pretty important two-game set against Syracuse at home.”
Kevin Mandolese made 36 saves in the win and Logan Shaw extended his point streak to six games.
The Belleville Senators return to CAA Arena on Monday afternoon when they host the Syracuse Crunch for a Family Day matinee. You can hear the game on the Senators’ Official Broadcast Partner 800 AM CJBQ. Coverage begins at 2:50 p.m. with Jack Miller and David Foot.
