It was a rousing atmosphere in the CAA Arena for the final preseason contest between the Belleville Sens who were taking on the Toronto Marles for a Sunday afternoon matinee in front of 2000 fans.
Even though Belleville was the more aggressive of the two squads in the opening 10 minutes, it was the Marlies who opened the scoring at the 7:44 mark of the first period after Alex Steeves managed to get a snap shot past Sens goalkeeper Michael Simpson.
The knuckleball shot from the right wing was Steeves’s first goal of the preseason and was assisted by Joseph Blandisi and Tommy Miller.
Toronto came flying out of the gates in the second period with Steeves notching his second goal of the afternoon just 31 seconds in, off a breakaway, sliding one past Simpson to make it 2-0 Marlies.
Steeves would complete his natural hat trick just over three minutes later with a floating wrist shot from just inside the blue line that got past Simpson to make it 3-0 Marlies.
Rookie forward Alex Frye, playing with Belleville on a pro tryout, would give the Sens life at the 10:00 minute mark of the second period after he was able to jam a loose puck past Marlies netminder Artur Akhtyamov following a scramble around the net to make it 3-1.
The Marlies would cap off their impressive performance with a short-handed goal by No. 10 Blandisi to make it 4-1 at the 9:12 mark of the final period. Blandisi glided past the Sens’ defence for a wide open breakaway to close out a comfortable win over Belleville.
One of the few Sens highlights of the day came late in third period when rookie Djibril Toure out-duelled Marlies forward Cedric Pare in a heavyweight tilt that saw both players assessed a five minute major.
In spite of Belleville out-shooting Toronto 39-23, Marlies goalie Akwahtyamov was solid all day to guide the visitors to victory.
Belleville will open the AHL regular season on the road against Rochester this Friday October 11.
Fast Facts:
– #28 Alex Frye scored his first AHL preseason goal.
– #13 Xavier Bourgault picked up his second assist of the preseason.
– #31 Michael Simpson saved 19 of 23 shots in his fist start of the preseason.
– The Senators were 0 for 3 on the Lifestyle Home Products Power Play and 3 for 3 on the ViewTech Window and Doors Penalty Kill.
Highlights:
Up Next:
- Friday, October 11, 2024 – Belleville @ Rochester (7:05 p.m. ET – Blue Cross Arena)
- Saturday, October 12, 2024 – Belleville @ Syracuse (7:00 p.m. ET – Upstate Medical University Arena)
- Saturday, October 19, 2024 – Belleville vs Utica (7:00 p.m. ET – CAA Arena) (Home Opener Weekend presented by CAA)
- Sunday October 20, 2024 – Belleville vs Syracuse (3:00 p.m. ET – CAA Arena) (Home Opener Weekend presented by CAA)
