(Belleville goaltender Mads Sogaard stops shootout attempt by Crunch forward Gage Goncalves. Photo: Bellevillesens.com)
They’re not a cinch to clinch just yet but pretty darn close.
Roarke Chartier scored the lone goal of the shootout to give the Belleville Senators a 2-1 win over the Syracuse Crunch Wednesday night at the CAA Arena.
That gives Belleville a four-point lead on Laval for the final playoff spot in the AHL North with two games left, both against the Rocket.
Igor Sokolov scored his 19th of the season and summed up the importance of the win.
Sens goalie Mads Sogaard stopped 19 of 20 shots and all three in the shootout.
Sokolov says Sogaard has been a rock in goal for Belleville.
Belleville needs just one point in their final two games against Laval (Montreal Canadiens) to qualify for the playoffs for just the second time since relocating from Binghamton in 2017.
They play in Belleville Friday night then back to Laval on Saturday.
The B-Sens are only two points behind the fourth place Toronto Marlies who also have two games left.
They lost to Rochester 3-1 Wednesday night.
If they qualify, Belleville would play the Marlies in a best-of-three preliminary playoff series.
