The Belleville Senators got back on the ice at home after a restful All-Star break, taking on the Hershey Bears, losing 6-3.
It was an eventful first twenty minutes as the Bears set the tone with the opening goal. A power-play marker set up by Leon Muggli, along with a pass from behind the net off the stick of Brett Leason, found Alex Suzdalev for his third of the year and a 1-0 lead. The Senators were quick to answer and knot the game back up. A pass from Garrett Pilon sent Tyler Boucher in alone, whose shot created a rebound for Jan Jenik, who potted it home to tie the game at 1-1. Later in the period, Hershey was able to take back their advantage and double the lead with two quick tallies. The first came off a takeaway in the offensive zone, as Graeme Clarke’s shot went five-hole on Leevi Merilainen to make it a 2-1 contest. Thirty-six seconds later, Clarke notched his second of the game off a nifty dish in the corner from Matt Strome to extend the game to 3-1.
The second frame saw the Senators dominate in shots again, outshooting the Bears 25-14 through two periods. Belleville had two chances on the man advantage but was unable to capitalize, and the score remained 3-1 heading into the third.
The third and final period featured plenty of scoring, starting with the Bears. Under two minutes in, a pass from Ilya Protas sprung Andrew Cristall in alone to score his ninth of the season and make it 4-1. Belleville was able to respond quickly. A high-to-low pass from Carter Yakemchuk set up Philippe Daoust, who pulled off a slick toe-drag and buried it to cut the deficit to 4-2. Hershey would not allow the momentum to build, restoring the three-goal lead shortly after. A stop right at the offensive blue line by David Gucciardi led to Ivan Miroshnichenko sending a cross-crease pass to Henrik Rybinski for a 5-2 lead. The Bears added another just past the midway point of the third, with Bogdan Trineyev potting his tenth off a pass from Cristall to make it 6-2. The Senators did add one late on the man advantage, as Daoust and Xavier Bourgault combined to help Olle Lycksell light the lamp for his sixteenth point of the year, resulting in a 6-3 final.
Belleville will take Sunday off and get right back to it against the Bears again on Monday afternoon for a Family Day special at 3:00 p.m. inside CAA Arena.
