The Belleville Senators kept the good times rolling notching their sixth straight win beating the Manitoba Moose 3-2 in the second of three straight games Saturday.
The B-Sens jumped out to an early lead just under four minutes into the first period when forward Logan Shaw scored his sixth of the season with assists from Clark Bishop and Parker Kelly.
Both teams took penalties late in the first period but nobody was able to capitalize and Belleville took the lead into the first intermission.
Manitoba came out firing in the second period and despite firing 18 shots on goal in the frame, only managed to score one past Belleville netminder Kevin Mandolese.
The second period was an eventful one with some rough stuff resulting in 24 minutes in penalties between both teams.
Just five minutes into the third period, Belleville D-man Jonathan Aspirot scored his sixth goal of the season on a power play to give the Senators a 2-1 edge.
Manitoba answered just 40 seconds later when Nathan Todd scored unassisted on a Moose power play when Parker Kelly went to the box for high sticking.
With the score tied at two and the game winding down it seemed that, for the second straight night, there may be free hockey. Belleville went into a very short overtime against Manitoba Friday night, winning 3-2.
However, with just over four minutes left, Kelly redeemed himself by scoring his eighth goal of the season which would be the eventual game winner.
Parker finished the evening with two points, a goal and an assist, and Mandolese stayed composed in the crease stopping 30 of 32 shots on the game.
After the game, Kelly was asked about the recent string of wins Belleville has put together.
“Yeah, it’s a big feat. I think with our slow start, I think this is nice to get our wins back up to where they should be. I think this team has a lot more potential in the coming years. This is just a testament to how good we’re going to be in the future.”
This late win streak comes as the season winds down to the final three games for Belleville, with no Calder Cup playoffs this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The win pushes Belleville to 16-15-1 on the season.
Belleville plays one more against the Moose to close out the four game mini-series Sunday afternoon and then they’ll play two straight against the Toronto Marlies to finish what was a whirlwind of a season.
The B-Sens hit the ice for the last time against Manitoba this season Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
