Ottawa Senators Prospect Update and Belleville Recap - March 20th

Prospect Team of the Week

Forwards

Just like every other week, Angus Crookshank led the way for the BSens with two more goals to go along with an assist and seven shots through three games. His 24 goals on the season have him just inside the top-ten in the AHL. Crookshank has had at least a point in 20 of his last 22 AHL games and he continues to average over three shots per game. He looked good in Ottawa and as much as I'd love to see more of Crookshank in the NHL, he can singlehandedly determine the BSens' fate.

As more of a middle-six jack-of-all-trades, Cole Reinhardt tends to go through extended scoring droughts but every now and then he makes an appearance in this feature. Reinhardt has four points through seven games in March including a goal and an assist on five shots through three games this past week. For a Belleville team that desperately needs depth scoring right now, a healthy Reinhardt will play a huge role down the stretch. Again, Reinhardt has probably merited a late-season call-up to Ottawa but the BSens need him and I don't know that the parent club will have any roster spots available.

Although Egor Sokolov has had a down year by his own standards, he still has weeks when he looks like Belleville's greatest threat to score in all situations. He still shoots the puck more than anyone else on the team and this week he got rewarded with a pair of goals (and a pair of assists). He'll certainly set a new career high for shots in a season and still has time to set a new personal best for goals. If Sokolov can play up to his old standard for the remainder of the season then Belleville will have a chance to make the playoffs. And I imagine Sokolov would appreciate the opportunity to change the narrative with a strong postseason.

Defence

Not too much offence to report from the blueline this past week and Jorian Donovan, Filip Nordberg, and Donovan Sebrango each had one assist. I would argue that Maxence Guenette stood out the most this week by virtue of not really standing out (in the bad way) in Ottawa. He played over 14 minutes in each of his three games, had shot attempts in all three, and didn't turn the puck over. His five-on-five on-ice rates (corsi, expected goals) have also trended up as one would expect with some more reps under the proverbial belt.

Goaltender

In Belleville Mads Søgaard won his Thursday start and took a tough-luck loss on Saturday to split his record 1-1 with five goals on 57 shots, while Leevi Meriläinen won his lone start (with two goals allowed on 31 shots). Kevin Reidler won his lone contest allowing one goal on 38 shots, and you can't really fault Vladimir Nikitin who won convincingly on Friday night (stopping 28 of 30) and struggled Saturday (15/18). I don't think playing both halves of a back-to-back seems like much fun at any level.

Belleville Update

The Belleville Senators had another strong week in their bid for a playoff spot, going 2-1-0 in their three matches.

The week kicked off last Wednesday, where the Senators hosted the Utica Comets for a rematch from the previous weekend that saw the Comets squeak out a 3-2 victory. This game, however, was different, as the Senators came out flying and couldn't be stopped over the course of sixty minutes.

While the opening period did finish in a 2-2 knot, it was the Senators who dominated much of the play, outshooting and outchancing the Comets throughout. When the team took the ice for the second period, there was no turning back as Angus Crookshank and Brennan Saulier both tallied goals in the second period and Boko Imama put the icing on the cake in the third for a 5-2 win.

Friday featured Belleville's loss of the week, facing off against the second place Syracuse Crunch. It was a close one, but the Crunch were able to knock the Sens off by a score of 4-2 thanks to multipoint games from five of their skaters.

On Saturday, Belleville bounced back against the visiting Bridgepoint Islanders. In a rare out-of-division matchup, Belleville got off to a quick start thanks to a Garrett Pilon powerplay marker five minutes in. Early in the second, Egor Sokolov added to the scoring and about halfway through, he grabbed another. While the Islanders scored once in between, the Senators held a 3-1 lead heading into the third.

Bridgeport would add another but an empty netter courtesy of Garrett Pilon would finish things off nicely for the BSens.

Belleville still sits smack dab in the middle of the playoff race in the North, as their 65 points has them sitting in fourth place. Things remain interesting as those 65 points have them one point back of third but only five points ahead of last.

This past week included the AHL's trade deadline, where the Senators were busy bringing in reinforcements ahead of their final push for the playoffs.

Forward Wyatt Bongiovanni was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for future considerations. Bongiovanni, 24, is a strong middle six option who's compiled 15 points through 34 games so far this season. The former Quinniapac captain made his Belleville debut on Sunday against the Islanders.

A more intriguing incoming prospect is forward Jamieson Rees, who cost Ottawa a sixth round pick. Rees, 23, is coming to town with just three points to his name, after posting a strong 42 points in 65 games just one year prior.

The Senators have a rare triple game weekend coming up that'll see them face the Laval Rocket on Friday and Saturday before a Sunday matinee with the Hartford Wolfpack. Laval is one of the teams right on Belleville's heels as only three points separate the two clubs. Two wins against the Rocket will go a long way in Belleville's hunt for a spot.

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