BSens Win Big in Lone Game
In a quiet week, the Belleville Senators took down their rivals in Laval with scoring help from their blueline.
It was a quiet week for the BSens, having only one game on the calendar against the Laval Rocket. With the number of players missing from the lineup, it’s almost a blessing that the team had just one game to focus all their energy on.
Mads Søgaard got the start for Belleville, suiting up for his seventh game of the season. It was Mark Kastelic who got the scoring started for the BSens, finding the back of the net for the fourth time this season - his first point in his last four games. The lead didn’t last long as the Rocket got themselves on the board just a few shifts later.
In the second period, Belleville’s powerplay got to work, scoring a pair of markers with the Rocket in the box to create a 3-1 lead for themselves. Kastelic added to the scoresheet for a second time in the game by getting the primary assist on Belleville’s first powerplay goal of the second frame, scored by Zac Leslie. After Leslie scored his first as a member of the BSens, another defender played copycat as Max Guenette scored his first professional goal.
First professional goal for Maxence Guenette comes on the power play! 👏@BellevilleSens | #LAVvsBEL pic.twitter.com/da63XGiuJw
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) November 21, 2021
There’s a lot to love about this goal. Andrew Agozzino puts his body on the line behind the net to wrap the puck around to Egor Sokolov who finds Guenette at the blueline. Guenette fires a rocket (pun intended) upstairs from the slot. Right at the end of this clip, you can see Sokolov rush to the net to grab the puck, too. You love to see it.
While the Rocket were able to get themselves on the board in the dying seconds of the frame, it was all Belleville in the third period.
Dillon Heatherington scored his first goal as a BSen - that’s three defenders with their first Belleville goals in one game - on the empty net. With the net still empty, Matthew Wedman added another one, with a rare goalie point appearing on the scoresheet as the secondary assist was attributed to The Great Dane™ himself.
The Good
Mads Søgaard - As mentioned last week, Søgaard had a tough start to the season but has turned it around in his last few games. This game was no different, as he turned aside 35 of 37 shots for a 0.946 SV%. That brings him to a smooth 0.933 SV% in his last four starts.
Mark Kastelic - Kastelic provides a lot on the ice in the form of defense, faceoffs and physicality so when he adds offense to his toolbox, Belleville benefits even more. Kastelic had a goal, an assist and four shots against Laval on the weekend.
Max Guenette - Guenette scored his first goal of his professional hockey career, which is always nice to see, but what’s more important is that he’s stepped into a bigger role in the absence of Lassi Thomson and he’s played quite well. There’s still plenty to work on for the younger blueliner but you can see the development happening.
Secondary Scoring - While two of the five goals Belleville scored were on an empty net, four of them were scored by players you don’t necessarily expect to get on the scoresheet. With the number of players missing, it’s imperative that the team finds other ways to score and, in this game, they did.
The Power Play - Belleville scored on two of three opportunities with a Laval player in the box, something you absolutely love to see.
The Bad
Jake Lucchini - It’s not necessarily a bad thing but more a sign that things are regressing to normal that Lucchini only has one assist in his last four games. That may not sound terrible but when you consider he has 11 points in his first 10 games for Belleville, it’s something to be concerned about.
Jacob Bernard-Docker - JBD isn’t playing poorly, let’s get that straight. He has defended well and moves the puck. What he’s struggled to do, though, is contribute offensively. Generally, you want your top defensive prospects to score in the AHL, even if they’re not going to be the type to put up a ton of points in the NHL. It shows that they’re that much better than the competition at the lower level. JBD has just one assist in his last seven games and only three points through 12 on the season.
The Ugly
There was nothing ugly about this past week. The BSens played well, particularly given their roster situation. Reinforcements are coming back and the team also acquired Jack Dougherty this week, strengthening the right side of the blueline. Dougherty was a solid veteran member of Belleville the past three seasons and I’m certain Coach Mann will be thrilled to have him back.