Sens defeat Crunch in shootout thriller

Viktor Lodin and Egor Sokolov scored in the shootout as the Belleville Senators defeated the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 on Friday night at Upstate Medical University Arena.

Belleville opened the scoring 8:31 into the contest when Angus Crookshank capitalized on a friendly bounce on the power play with his tenth of the campaign to give the visitors a 1-0 lead after twenty minutes of play.

The Senators had a strong start to the second period, including an excellent save from Mads Sogaard on an Alex Barré-Boulet penalty shot effort. Eventually, Syracuse evened the score through a Philippe Myers shorthanded marker at the 18:41 mark of the frame to take a 1-1 tie heading into the final stanza.

Early in the third, the Senators extended their advantage after Scott Sabourin found the back of the net just 29 seconds into the final stanza. However, the Crunch equalized once again, this time at 11:09, as Shawn Element tallied on the man advantage to force extra time.

After a scoreless overtime, Belleville secured the hard-fought victory staying perfect in the shootout this season as the aforementioned Lodin and Sokolov hit twine while Mads Sogaard turned aside both attempts he faced.

The Senators will be back in action tomorrow when they host their annual Women in Hockey Night against the Manitoba Moose at CAA Arena, with puck drop set for 7:05 p.m. (EST).