The Belleville Senators improved their record to 3-0 against their divisional rivals from Quebec on Wednesday night, beating the Laval Rocket (Montreal Canadiens) 5-3, in a back and forth affair at CAA Arena.
Alex Formenton had a pair of goals, with Drake Batherson, Josh Norris and Cole Cassels also scoring for Belleville, while Filip Gustavsson made 19 saves on 22 shots.
Joe Cox, Antoine Waked and Matthew Peca counted for the Rocket and rookie goaltender Cayden Primeau stopped 14 shots.
The B-Sens also had some reinforcements on the blue line with Andreas Englund returning from a 14 game injury layoff, along with Christian Jaros and Jordan Murray, who had shorter stints on the injured list recently, which added a steady presence for Belleville throughout the game.
Belleville put the pressure on early, registering three shots inside first 2:00 of the game, before Formenton hit a post at the 4:00 mark and they eventually opened the scoring on the power play at 11:23.
Josh Norris weaved through a pair of Rocket defenders on the left side and slipped the puck to Drake Batherson in the slot, with the Nova Scotia native placing a wrist shot just over the left pad and under the arm of Cayden Fleury, who was making his third start of the season against Belleville.
Batherson and Norris have been building some excellent chemistry of late, with Batherson telling 800 CJBQ at the first intermission, that Norris is pretty easy to play with.
Formenton, who generated a handful of early chances, would bury his seventh goal of the season inside the final minute of the frame, when he finished a play from Rudolfs Balcers and captain Jordan Szwarz.
The assist by Balcers extended his point streak to six games, with the Latvian registering at least one point in every game since returning from a preseason injury.
Belleville Senators forward Chris Clapperton sets a screen in front of Laval Rocket goaltender Cayden Primeau, during a game at CAA Arena, on November 27, 2019. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Laval came out of the dressing room hard to start the second period, forcing Gustavsson to make back to back saves early on, with Belleville getting tired during a long defensive shift.
The Rocket would find the net, though, during a string of three straight Belleville penalties within about a 5:00 span.
With Abramov in the box, Pecca hit the post, but Belleville was able to kill off the first disadvantage.
Abramov took another penalty for boarding about a minute after leaving the box, which allowed Laval’s Jake Evans to get another scoring chance on a partial breakaway, but Englund would track him down to help kill off the man advantage as well.
Laval would breach Gustavssson’s armour on the third man advantage, when Belleville’s Cole Cassels went off for hooking moments later and Cox scored on a wrist shot from the slot, to make it 2-1 after two periods.
Belleville Senators forward Vitaly Abramov carries the puck, during a game against the Laval Rocket at CAA Arena, on November 27, 2019. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
Laval kept the momentum out of the second intermission as well, scoring twice inside the first minute of the third period, to take a 3-2 lead.
The Rocket rushed into the Belleville end off of the opening faceoff, with Waked knocking one between the legs of Gustavsson, to tie the game just 14 seconds into the period.
Then after offsetting penalties and while playing four-on-four, Peca skated into the B-Sens zone on the left side and beat Gustavsson, who was sliding back into the net and left too much open space at the near post.
But Belleville would push back again and tie the game, then go back in front, following a span of more than 20 minutes without a shot.
First, Norris wired a power play wrist shot over the right shoulder of Primeau, from above the far circle.
Then they went back in front while playing four-on-four again, when Formenton picked up the puck in the Belleville end, dodged a hit at the defensive blue line and flew down the left wing side, before snapping a shot past Primeau for his second of the game.
Belleville got some insurance when Cole Cassels tipped home a shot from Balcers, with Jaros earning the assist, to make it 5-3.
With the two goals in the game Formenton moves into fifth place in the AHL rookie scoring race, just behind Norris and says they were able to battle back after a slow second period.
Head Coach Troy Mann also said he was pleased with his club’s push back and added that his team is starting to find its identity at the 20 game mark of the season.
Belleville head back on the road this weekend with visits to Binghamton (New Jersey Devils) on Friday night and Hershey (Washington Capitals) on Saturday.
800 AM CJBQ’s broadcast both nights begins at 6:50 p.m. for Eastern Overhead Doors and Deerhaven Farm and Garden.
You can click here to read the box score from Wednesday night and see some of the game’s highlights below.
