The game was taken in by 4,361 fans at CAA Arena, the second-largest crowd in franchise history.
Toronto opened the scoring in the first, via an unassisted takeaway and wrist shot from Kyle Clifford that eluded Malcolm Subban, but the Sens evened the score about five minutes later. Hayden Hodgson notched his first goal as a Senator, tipping in a point shot from rookie defenceman Djibril Touré, who ended up earning two assists in his American Hockey League debut.
Belleville was the better team in the second period, outshooting Toronto 12-5 and outscoring them 2-1. William Villeneuve had put the Marlies ahead by a goal at 5:11, but then Garrett Pilon scored for Belleville at 12:47, and Zack MacEwen finished off a gorgeous individual effort, to give the Sens a 3-2 lead.
The Marlies would score twice in the third period to get back in front with goals from Jack Quillan, his second in as many games, and a weird power play marker from Nick Abruzzese, who banked a puck off Subban and in, from behind the Belleville goal line. A late Senators flurry would come up short, with Dennis Hildeby stopping 35 of the 38 shots he faced in the Toronto net.
The Sens and Marlies will meet next on Valentine’s Day at CAA Arena, for their sixth of 10 matchups this season.
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