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AHL Belleville Senators

Belleville Sens Snap Skid and Head Into Christmas Break With Win Over Rival Marlies

December 23, 2023 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Belleville Senators News Release


Toronto Marlies' Dylan Gambrell versus Belleville Senators' Matthew Highmore
Toronto Marlies' Dylan Gambrell versus Belleville Senators' Matthew Highmore
(Belleville Senators, Credit: Cleveland Monsters)

BELLEVILLE, ON - The Christmas holidays will be a little merrier for the Belleville Senators, who head into the break on a winning note, after defeating the Toronto Marlies 4-3 at CAA Arena on Friday night.

It wasn't a great start for the Sens, who gave up the game's first goal just over a minute into the game. Former Belleville captain Logan Shaw knocked in a rebound after a Kieffer Bellows shot. But Belleville answered just 26 seconds later, through Tyler Boucher's first career AHL goal, coming off the wall and beating Dennis Hildeby with a long shot.

Kyle Clifford put Toronto Back in front midway through the second, but Roby Jarventie would deflect in a pass from Garrett Pilon inside the frame's final minute, to tie it again, 2-2.

Belleville took its first lead 25 seconds into the third period, by way of a Zack Ostapchuk goal, finishing off a nice dump-and-chase play with Cole Reinhardt and Lassi Thomson. Clifford would add his second with under three minutes left to tie it, but Belleville responded less than a minute later again, getting the game-winner from Matt Highmore.

Fast Facts:

The Senators head into the Christmas break with a .500 winning percentage (11-11-2-2)

#10 Zack Ostapchuk scored his sixth goal of the season and had three shots on goal

#16 Tyler Boucher scored his first career AHL goal

#22 Garrett Pilon had two assists, giving him three points over his last two games

#31 Kevin Mandolese earned his third win of the season, making 31 saves on 34 shots

#34 Roby Jarventie scored his fifth goal of the season to give him a three-game point streak (one goal, two assists)

Belleville was 0/2 on the power play and 3/3 on the penalty kill

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens Head Coach Dave Bell on the difference between tonight's win and Thursday's loss:

"I think we competed and were ready to play. And we stuck to the game plan of putting the puck in and going to work. We've got some big bodies that bought into that, guys like Roby and Pilon, Soko, and Rhino and they're hard to get the puck off of. They had success with it and stuck with it for 60 minutes."

Belleville Sens forward Tyler Boucher on his team's play tonight:

"That was a real character win for our team. It was a great bounce back and says a lot about what's in our room and how we compete. We just had everybody on board tonight. We were really positive after a bit of a wake-up call last night, and I think the older guys in our room were leading well. It was a great team effort, Mando played really well and I'm really happy we got this one before the break."

Full media availabilities are below.

Next Up:

Tuesday December 26, 2023 @ Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) - 7:00 p.m. (ScotiaBank Arena)

Thursday December 28, 2023 vs Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens) - 7:00 p.m. (Indigenous Communities Night)

Saturday December 30, 2023 @ Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) - 4:00 p.m.

Ticket Info:

Tickets for all Belleville Sens home games for the remainder of the 2023-24 season are now on sale online, via Ticketmaster or the Belleville Sens Ticket Hub, by visiting the Belleville Sens Box Office at the Quinte Sports & Wellness Centre, or by emailing tickets@bellevillesens.com. Box Office hours are available.

Check out the Belleville Senators Statistics




Images from this story

Toronto Marlies' Dylan Gambrell versus Belleville Senators' Matthew Highmore
Toronto Marlies' Dylan Gambrell versus Belleville Senators' Matthew Highmore
(Cleveland Monsters)		   



American Hockey League Stories from December 23, 2023


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