Pilon’s late Power-Play Goal Lifts Senators Over Laval

The Belleville Senators wrapped up their back-to-back set at home against the Laval Rocket this weekend, winning in dramatic fashion, 4-3.

A Saturday night showdown between the two opponents got off to a quick start, as the Senators opened the scoring. Hard work below the blue paint saw Xavier Bourgault beat his man and feed Scott Harrington for a one-timer, beating Kaapo Kahkonen to make it 1-0. The scoring from Belleville’s defenseman continued as they added another tally. On a delayed penalty, Mark Duarte and Cam Crotty assisted on Jorian Donovan’s slick toe-drag goal, extending the lead to 2-0. Shortly after, the Senators piled on for their third goal of the first period. Solid pressure deep in the Rocket zone had Djibril Toure pass to Bourgault, who dropped the puck to Daoust, scoring his sixth of the year and enlarging the advantage to 3-0.

The start of the middle twenty saw Laval break their scoreless bid just under thirty seconds in. A strong push by the Rocket inside the Senators’ zone, led by Sammy Blais, found Joshua Roy at the top of the circle, who netted his first of the contest to make it 3-1. Later in the period, the Rocket continued to apply pressure. A scramble in front of the net, caused by Laurent Dauphin, allowed him to navigate through the crowd and set up Alex Belzile to score his tenth of the season, cutting the game to 3-2. Laval recorded their final goal of the frame to tie it, as Dauphin connected with Belzile again for a 3-3 score going into the third.

In the final period, it took some time to see a goal, but the Senators struck late on the power play. A point shot from Lassi Thomson was tipped in by captain Garrett Pilon for his second goal in three games, securing a 4-3 win.