Belleville’s Struggles Continue
The Belleville Senators managed two of six points this week, including a blow out loss to the Rockford Ice Hogs on Saturday night.
After a strong start, the Belleville Senators have been on the losing end of more than a few games. It’s a bit of a rocky start all in. This past week’s schedule featured a three game road trip, starting in Laval and ending in Rockford. In the middle, they visited Milwaukee for a date with the Admirals.
To open the week, Belleville took down the Rocket in a 3-2 nailbiter. Egor Sokolov and Roby Järventie kept the BSens in the game while Rourke Chartier, once again, played hero with a buzzer beater. With just 14 seconds on the clock, Chartier won the draw and made his way to the front of the net. After one shot, he corralled his own rebound and tossed it into the net with nine seconds on the clock.
Another clutch game winner by Rourke Chartier on Wednesday night against Laval caps off the #HighlightoftheWeek!#ForTheB pic.twitter.com/1Ud8aMxOLl
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) October 30, 2022
On Friday, in Milwaukee, the BSens turned back to Mads Søgaard and ensured he wasn’t bored; the large Dane faced 40 shots through three periods of work, stopping 37. Unfortunately for Belleville, they had the tall task of beating top goalie prospect Yaraslov Askarov and he came as advertised. Jake Lucchini and Chartier were able to find the back of the net but, otherwise, Askarov was clutch and gave his Admirals the better chance to win. Belleville eventually fell 4-2, with Milwaukee adding an empty net goal with just over a minute left.
The final game was certainly one to forget, and came just a few hours after the parent club got outworked and outplayed by the Panthers on Saturday. It would appear Belleville wanted to be just like their big brothers, as they let the Ice Hogs pile eight goals on the scoreboard. In fact, it wasn’t until the score was already 8-0 that Belleville managed to score their first; thanks to some solid work from Lucchini and Angus Crookshank.
Gotta start somewhere 🤷♂️#ForTheB | #BELvsRFD https://t.co/lQexhM9c98 pic.twitter.com/1bzBDH6d7r
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) October 30, 2022
Crookshank kept the work going in the third period, although it was too little to late with the team still down by a touchdown.
Crooker rips his 2nd of the season!#ForTheB | #BELvsRFD https://t.co/Hzv4INDQIR pic.twitter.com/LPaIM9poil
— Belleville Senators (@BellevilleSens) October 30, 2022
The Belleville Senators now sit fourth in the Atlantic with a 3-4-1 record. Coming up, the team will host Lehigh Valley and Toronto this weekend.
Weekly Notes
- While goaltending did not go the way the team wanted against Rockford, Mads Søgaard and Kevin Mandolese, otherwise, played well. Against Milwaukee, Søgaard stopped 37 of 40 for a 0.925 SV %. Meanwhile, in Laval, Mandolese posted a solid 0.939 SV% in Bellevilles lone win of the week.
- Jake Lucchini led the charge offensively, with two goals and two assists through three games this week while Rourke Chartier (2G, 1A), Angus Crookshank (1G, 1A) and Roby Järventie (1G, 1A) joined in on the fun. On the blueline, Lassi Thomson had a pair of assists this week, bringing his totals to four points in eight games so far.
- The Belleville Senators announced two additions this week, with Cole Cassels and Cory Conacher returning to the organization on try out contracts. Cassels, 27, started the year in Sweden’s second tier league while Conacher, 32, has been playing in the Swiss League for the past two seasons, producing 0.87 points per game with three different teams.
- After beginning the season with an injury, Ridly Greig has now dressed in four games. Despite the hype around his addition to the lineup, he’s only contributed a single assist so far. The 20 year old rookie has played a few games in the middle of the lineup, with Angus Crookshank as his most common winger./