The Belleville Senators return trip to Utica was a positive one on Friday night.
Wyatt Bongiovanni’s winner in the fifth round of the shootout capped off a come-from-behind 4-3 victory, a week after a 3-0 loss at the Adirondack Bank Center.
The Sens did have to battle for those two key points, as they were blanked through two periods while trailing by two on second period goals from Austin Strand and Lenni Hameenaho before coming to life in the third.
Phillippe Daoust continued his outstanding play by beating out a few Comets in the corner and finding Xavier Bourgault, who beat goaltender Nico Daws on a backhand 45 seconds into the frame.
Scott Harrington added the second assist on the L’Islet, Quebec native’s fifth of the year.
Another young senator picked up a milestone at the 4:44 mark when Landen Hookey scored his first AHL goal to knot the score at two apiece.
The Sarnia, Ont. product got just enough of a Jorian Donovan shot to sneak past Daws after the Sens blueliner was set up by Jamieson Rees.
Arthur Kaliyev buried the go-ahead marker for his fourth straight game with a goal when he sliced the Comets defence and roofed a shot over Daws with 4:43 to play in regulation, but the Sens visions of winning out in regulation were dashed on a Brian Halonen equaliser 41 seconds later.
Tomas Hamara assisted on the Kaliyev marker for his first career AHL point.
Utica dominated the overtime frame, outshooting Belleville 10-1 and being left frustrated by the brilliant play of Hunter Shepard, who finished with 25 saves in his second straight victory.
Hameenaho and Stephen Halliday traded goals in the first round of the shootout before the goaltenders shut things down until Bongiovanni beat Daws for the clincher.
Utica got the edge in shots through 65 minutes, 28-26, but the Sens got the win to improve to 7-6-1-0 and 15 points on the year.
The Senators will wrap up their three-game New York swing against the Syracuse Crunch (AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning) this Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. start at Upstate Medical University Arena.
PHOTO: BELLEVILLE SENATORS
