The Belleville Senators were defeated 4-1 by the Laval Rocket on Friday night as the divisional rivals began a weekend doubleheader at Place Bell.
Laval opened the scoring at 8:50 of the first period when Devante Smith-Pelly capitalized on an unfortunate play in the Belleville crease after goaltender Filip Gustavsson lost his footing. The Senators continued to push for the equalizer, eventually finding it after Cedric Pare sprung rookie forward Chris Wilkie in alone on a breakaway with 7:27 left to play in the frame.
Danick Martel regained the Rocket lead, scoring the lone tally of the second stanza and eventual game-winner to make 2-1 with a shorthanded breakaway goal.
Jesse Ylönen put the contest out of reach, extending the Laval advantage to 3-1 at the 11:15 mark of the third period. Belleville would make a late push with the extra attacker out. However, Rocket defenceman Louie Belpedio ended any hopes of a comeback, hitting an empty net from the full length of the ice with 51 seconds remaining in the game.
Fast Facts
- Filip Gustavsson made 26 saves.
- Chris Wilkie scored his seventh goal of the season.
- Cedric Pare broke out of a seven game pointless streak with an assist.
Sens on Special Teams:
Power Play: 0/3 | Penalty Kill: 3/3
Head Coach Troy Mann
“From an offensive perspective, I didn’t think we generated very much tonight. The momentum was in their favour after the shorthanded goal and we didn’t seem to have our legs tonight. I don’t think we gave up a ton of unbelievable looks (defensively), but unfortunately, it just wasn’t good enough overall. ”
“We’re going to need a level of urgency tomorrow to get the split. These are eight-point swings and we felt coming into the game tonight that Laval is a team we can catch over the next couple months, but we’ll need a different team tomorrow. It’s like our team has two personalities and we don’t know which one we’re getting on a game-to-game basis. It’s a bit concerning at this time of year, but we’ll see if we respond tomorrow.”
The Belleville Senators return to action tomorrow afternoon, concluding their back-to-back road set with the Laval Rocket. You can hear the game on the Senators’ Official Broadcast Partner 800 AM CJBQ or see it on AHL TV. Coverage begins at 2:50 p.m with David Foot.
(Photo: Belleville Senators)
