Belleville Sens road trip opens with loss in Syracuse – Belleville Sens

Despite the Belleville Sens pouring a season-high 40 shots on the opposition net, it was the Syracuse Crunch offence that came out swinging at Upstate Medical University Arena, as the Senators fell 7-1 on Wednesday night.

All of the scoring in the first period came within about a three-and-a-half-minute span. Angus Crookshank got things going by notching his ninth goal of the season on the power play, just past the 10:00 mark, assisted by Jeremy Davies and Stephen Halliday. It was Crookshank’s fourth goal against the Crunch in this campaign.

But Syracuse would answer back with a pair of quick markers, at 11:47 by Tristan Allard, and then at 13:39 by Gabriel Fortier. Belleville put a season-high 19 shots on goal in the opening frame.

The Crunch took over in the second period, finding the net two more times in the middle of the period. Rookie Dylan Duke beat Subban with a high-slot one-timer at 10:37, before Conor Sheary pierced Subban’s armour at 13:00. Belleville outshot Syracuse 10-9 in the period, but couldn’t solve Brandon Halverson in the Syracuse net, as they did in the first.

Syracuse tacked on three more in the third, including a second goal from Allard just 1:24 into the period, and then from Roman Schmidt and Milo Roelens at 10:18 and 16:03 respectively. Subban was pulled partway through the period to make way for Michael Simpson, who made his AHL debut.

You can click here to see the full box score.

Fast Facts:

• #9 Angus Crookshank scored his team-leading 9th goal of the season and had a game-high six shots on net
• #34 Stephen Halliday had an assist in his first game wearing his new number
• #30 Malcolm Subban stopped 15 of 21 shots
• #31 Michael Simpson made his AHL debut in relief of Subban in the third period and stopped two of three shots
• The Senators were 1/6 on the Lifestyle Home Products Power Play and 1/1 on the ViewTech Window and Door Penalty Kill
• Belleville had a season-high 40 shots on goal, outshooting the Crunch 40-24

Sound Bytes:

Belleville Sens Captain Garrett Pilon on the result:

“I think it comes down to the fact that they outworked us and scored on their chances when we didn’t. We’ve seen these guys a lot already and know their brand of hockey. They came to compete and I don’t think we did. It’s nothing systematic for the most part, I think it’s a matter of will and want to win. And, I think there’ll be a lot of us who look in the mirror after that game wanting to be better.”

Belleville Sens…