Toronto Marlies vs Belleville Senators December 21,2025 © Tim Austen/Freestyle Photography
There didn’t appear to be too much exhaustion or love lost from the Belleville Senators in another eventful Battle of Ontario on Sunday afternoon.
The B-Sens whipped the Toronto Marlies 8-4 one day after falling in overtime to those same players on the road, snapping a six-game losing skid and extending their current point streak to four.
The two teams traded tallies within the first three minutes of the opening frame, with former Senator Cedric Pare’s goal being answered just 18 seconds later on a Keean Washkurak bullet through Vyacheslav Peksa’s pads.
The Waterloo native’s third of the year was helped by Landen Hookey and Mark Duarte.
Garrett Pilon managed to give Belleville the lead by busting free of a Toronto check and depositing the rebound off a Xavier Bourgault shot from the wing for his fourth of the season about halfway through the period.
The Sens were outshot 13-11, but still found a way to pull out the lead going into the intermission.
Once again in the second, the Sens showed resilience by responding quickly to a Logan Show powerplay tally with a laser of a goal by Lassi Thomson, the Finnish rearguard’s seventh of the season to retake the lead.
Less than a minute-and-a-half later, Jamieson Rees chased Peksa from the net by getting in close and outwaiting the Toronto netminder before rifling a high shot home for the expanded 4-2 advantage.
Another Russian goaltender, Artur Akhtyamov, came in to replace Peksa and faced the continued Belleville barrage.
Jan Jenik finished off a passing play off the rush between he, Pilon and Rees to tack on one more in the final minute of the second for Belleville.
Belleville held Toronto to only three shots in the frame to run away with the lead.
The Sens put home another courtesy of Phillippe Daoust in the maiden stages of the third, a powerplay counter from Tomas Hamara, his first AHL goal, about halfway through and a late four-on-four marker from Rees, his second of the game.
Bo Groulx and Marc Johnstone popped a pair for the Marlies to reduce their team’s deficit, but it was not nearly enough against a firewagon Senators squad.
The Sens outshot Toronto 33-24 in the victory, which marked Andrew Campbell’s first AHL head coaching win.
Belleville and Toronto meet again at Scotiabank Arena, home of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs on Boxing Day Friday at 2 p.m. following a brief holiday break.
Visit this link for post-game reaction from Campbell and Hamara.
