Photo: Belleville Senators
The Belleville Senators started off their back-to-back with an evening contest against the Laval Rocket, winning in dramatic fashion, 7-6.
To start off this big matchup, the Rocket wasted no time making their mark.
Just 1:25 into the game, an odd shot from the corner by Marc Del Gaizo bounced out front to Joshua Roy, who scored his nineteenth goal to make it 1–0. Under two minutes later, on the power play, Belleville tied it up. Strong movement up high by Philippe Daoust led to the puck reaching Arthur Kaliyev, whose shot was tipped in by a streaking Xavier Bourgault, knotting the score at 1–1.
In the second period, the Senators took their turn scoring an early tally. On a two-on-one chance, Olle Lycksell made a nice pass to Tyler Boucher, who buried his twelfth goal to give the Senators a 2–1 lead.
Midway through the period, Laval struck twice in just under thirty seconds. The first came from Tyler Thorpe, whose shot from the point got through and was deflected in by Samuel Blais, tying the game at 2–2.
The Rocket followed that up after a mad scramble initiated by Tobie Bisson and Luke Tuch, with Thorpe burying his fourth of the season to make it 3–2. With less than two minutes remaining in the period, both sides lit the lamp, with the Rocket extending their lead first. On the man advantage, a wild deflection beat Mads Sogaard, as Sean Farrell got a piece with help from Luke Mittelstadt and Joshua Roy, making it 4–2. The Senators struck right back as a stretch pass from Scott Harrington through the middle found Lycksell finishing on the backhand, cutting the deficit to 4–3.
In the third period, Laval connected on another power play to restore their two-goal lead. Showing patience in front, Farrell created space and dished the puck to Sammy Blais for a one-timer, for a 5–3 score.
Belleville answered with two goals of their own, courtesy of Xavier Bourgault. At the 4:32 mark, Arthur Kaliyev drove hard and made a cross-slot pass to Bourgault, who scored a slick backhand to make it 5–4.
Just past the halfway mark, Bourgault netted his twenty-third of the season off a rebound to tie the game at 5–5. The Rocket did not let that stop them, as they regained the lead. Off a faceoff win in the Senators’ zone, a pass from Blais set up Roy for his second of the night, putting Laval ahead 6–5.
However, Belleville kept pushing, and with forty-seven seconds remaining, they found the equalizer. Sustained pressure led Carter Yakemchuk to feed Kaliyev in the high circle, sending the game to overtime tied at 6–6.
The extra five minutes did not disappoint, as both teams traded chances before the Senators secured the second point. A pass from Lycksell found Kaliyev, who drove in, beat the defenders, and slid the puck past Kaapo Kahkonen to give Belleville a 7–6 victory.
With this win, the Senators keep their playoff hopes alive and will finish off this back-to-back and season series Saturday back at Place Bell versus the Rocket, this time in the afternoon with the game starting at 3:00 p.m.
