(Belleville defenceman Jack Dougherty gets in the way of Crunch forward Gage Goncalves in front of the Senators net. With files from David Foot)
The Belleville Senators couldn’t hang on to a 3-1 second period lead or a one goal lead late in the third and fell 5-4 in overtime to the hometown Syracuse Crunch.
Alex Barre-Boulet’s second of the night at 4:09 of OT ended it.
Syracuse opened the scoring early into the first period when Gabriel Fortier beat Mads Sogaard at 4:54. Belleville responded as Parker Kelly found the back of the net from the high slot with a heavy wrister just under four minutes later. The Senators ultimately took a 2-1 lead into intermission on a goal by Maxence Guenette with five seconds left in the frame.
In the second stanza, Belleville extended their advantage to 3-1 on Clark Bishop’s first goal of the night at 9:19. Syracuse cut the deficit to one before the end of the period as Alex Barre-Boulet tallied for the home side.
Early in the third, Syracuse began their comeback, tying the game through Simon Ryfors. A minute later, Clark Bishop scored for the second time in the contest. However, at 16:26, the Crunch again evened the scoring as Cole Koepke sent the game to extra time.
Senators Coach Troy Mann says they have to find a way to close out games.
The B-Sens earned four of a possible eight points last week but have dropped into sixth place in the tight AHL North.
Belleville is at Laval Wednesday night. (6:50 broadcast on CJBQ)
