Belleville Senators forward Ethan Werek carries the puck against the Syracuse Crunch on December 22, 2017. (Photo: Jason Scourse / Belleville Senators)
For the second time in as many trips to the Yardmen Arena, the Syracuse Crunch beat the Belleville Senators by six goals, picking up an 8-2 win on Friday night.
It was Belleville’s fourth loss in a row as the team heads into the holiday break.
The B-Sens looked to be off to a good start when Colin White fired home a snap shot from the left wing, off a pass from Ethan Werek, less than four minutes in.
But moments later the Crunch answered back, with Dominik Masin finishing a pretty passing play from Matthew Peca and Carter Verhage, to tie it 1-1.
Syracuse would score another five straight unanswered goals, from Michael Bournival, Erik Condra, Mat Bodie, Mitchell Stephens and Mathieu Joseph, leading to Andrew Hammond being pulled in favour of Chris Driedger, midway through the game.
Belleville looked to start getting back on track at 14:27 of the second, when a long Jordan Murray wrist shot beat Louis Domingue on the power play, making it 6-2.
But the Crunch would net two more, from Peca and Bodie’s second, to round out the scoring.
B-Sens coach Kurt Kleinendorst says he’s not making excuses for his team, but playing with such a depleted roster, is making it really tough to win games.
Kleinendorst says the team will use the short break to hopefully heal up from some of its injuries and will come back strong when the season resumes on Boxing Day.
The B-Sens visit the Toronto Marlies at Air Canada Centre that afternoon, with pre-game coverage starting at 2:45 p.m.
You can click here to read the full box score from Friday’s game.
