The winter storm may have kept some fans away from CAA Arena on Wednesday, but the Belleville Senators stayed red hot, riding a 31 save Marcus Högberg shutout to a 3-0 win over the Syracuse Crunch.
The shutout was Belleville’s first of the season, the second of Högberg’s career and the first home shutout in franchise history.
The first period started off at a frantic pace with both teams trading chances through the first 5:00, the best going to Syracuse’s Alexander Volkov who got free on a breakaway, but couldn’t beat Högberg in the Belleville net.
Jordan Murray took a slashing penalty while he was chasing Volkov down but the B-Sens were able to kill off the first Crunch man advantage of the night.
Belleville’s best chance would open the scoring just shy of the 12:00 mark.
Drake Batherson put a float pass into space ahead of Nick Paul, who generated a chance and then followed up on a goal mouth scramble, firing a spinning shot past former Belleville Bull and Wellington Duke Eddie Pasquale in the Syracuse goal.
It was Paul’s sixth goal of the season, with Batherson earning an assist on the play to stretch his point streak to 10 games.
He says his team is starting to feel more confident given the run of strong results.
Högberg made another highlight reel save moments later, robbing Gabriel Dumont with the blocker, to keep it 1-0 at the end of the frame.
Belleville Senators goaltender Marcus Högberg looks around Syracuse Crunch forward Gabriel Dumont, during a game at CAA Arena, on February 13, 2019. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Belleville had to kill off another penalty early in the second and did so, thanks in part to another handful of saves from Högberg, they would also get a power play of their own later in the period but couldn’t capitalize.
The B-Sens would extend the lead to 2-0 just under 5:00 in though after Daniel Ciampini checked up just inside the Syracuse line and fed a pass across to Cody Goloubef, whose long shot bounced off a Crunch defender and past Pasquale for his second goal as a Senator and his fifth of the season.
That was the only scoring of the frame, with Syracuse outshooting Belleville 8-5 in the period.
The Senators took another early penalty in the third but kept the pressure on shorthanded, with Filip Chlapik getting a pair of chances and Joseph LaBate chipping in with a man-down chance as well.
That power play turned into a two-man advantage after Pat Sieloff got called for high sticking and despite another bunch of Crunch chances, the B-Sens would kill it off as well.
Belleville had a power play of its own late in the period but couldn’t score again
The Senators had another flurry of chances following the power play but Pasquale stood strong and had some help from his defence blocking a handful of shots.
Belleville Senators forward Filip Chlapik fires a shot during a game against the Syracuse Crunch at CAA Arena, on February 13, 2019. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Syracuse pulled the goalie with about 3:00 and Adam Tambellini added an insurance marker into the empty net, from inside his own zone, making it 3-0.
Högberg made another 12 saves in the period to preserve the shutout and the victory.
The big Swedish netminder says the team’s solid form lately has made him a little bit more relaxed in goal.
Head Coach Troy Mann praised Högberg’s performance post game and told media that the goaltending is one of three things leading to the team’s recent success.
Belleville continues its four-game home stand on Friday and Saturday against the Cleveland Monsters, then finish the stretch with a Family Day matinee against the Laval Rocket on Monday.
All three games can be heard on 800 AM CJBQ for Eastern Overhead Doors and Deerhaven Farm and Garden, with 6:50 p.m. broadcast times on Friday and Saturday, and a 1:50 p.m. pregame on Monday.
You can click here to read the box score from Wednesday night with post-game interviews and highlights from the game available below.
Troy Mann Post Game Scrum
Marcus Hogbrg Post Game Scrum
Nick Paul Post Game Scrum
