Game Day Build Up: Senators at Rocket February 12th

February 12, 2021 - American Hockey League (AHL) - Belleville Senators News Release

The Set-Up:

The Belleville Senators return to the ice tonight as they cross into Quebec to visit the Laval Rocket for their 2020-21 AHL opener.

The Senators finished the 2019-20 season on top of the North Division, with Laval ending their season in 6th place last year, before Covid-19 ended the season in March.

The Sens hold an all-time 7-8-1-0 road record playing Laval.

Tonight, they will play at Montreal's Bell Centre.

Roster notes

The Sens will likely have Joey Daccord back in goal tonight, backed up by Kevin Mandolese, with Filip Gustavsson currently placed on Ottawa's taxi squad.

Zach Magwood, Cole Cassels, Mark Kastelic, Colby Williams, Jonathan Davidsson, Jack Kopacka and Cedrick Andree are out for Belleville.

Previous history

Belleville is 18-12-1-2 all-time against the Rocket and in nine games last season, were 6-2-0-1. Of returning Senators, Alex Formenton led the team with 10 points (four goals) in eight games last season against the Rocket.

Tonight is the first of four straight games between the two sides to start the campaign.

Who to watch

Lassi Thompson was the 19th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft by the Ottawa Senators and spent the first part of the season in his native Finland where in 18 games with Ilves, he had two assists.

Formenton accumulated 53 points in 61 games with Belleville last season and was the CCM Fastest Skater at the American Hockey League's All-Star skills competition in 2020 with a lap of 13.356 seconds. He was also named to the 2019-20 AHL All-Rookie team.

Ridley Greig was the 28th overall pick by the Ottawa Senators in 2020. Last season, he had 60 points (26 goals) in 56 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.

Where to watch

Friday's game starts at 7pm and can be seen LIVE on AHLTV and RDS. Follow the Belleville Sens social media for updates.

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