SENATORS
Belleville

3-4

MARLIES
Toronto

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Moutrey – Paul – Gagne
Werek – Scarfo – Rodewald
Selleck – Kelly – Blunden
Randell – Ciampini – Sturtz[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Lajoie – Pokka
Sieloff – Jaros
Englund – Erkamps[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:
Gustavsson
Hogberg

Scratches: Alex Formenton, David Dziurzynski, Jordan Murray, Max Reinhart, Filip Chlapik, Danny Taylor, Colin White, Erik Burgdoerfer

Injured Reserve: Francis Perron, Kyle Flanagan, Mike Blunden, Ben Sexton, Jim O’Brien

Game Report

In their final game of the 2017-2018 season, the Belleville Senators visited their provincial rivals, the Toronto Marlies, for one last Battle of Ontario. Coming off a 3-1 victory over the Utica Comets the night before, the Senators were looking to end the season on a high note and get the last laugh over their biggest rival.

The first period had everything we have come to expect from the battle of Ontario. It took a while for the energy to pick up, but when it did the teams were playing fast and furiously. Daniel Ciampini scored a beauty, after a defensive zone turnover from Justin Holl, beating Ian Scott to give the Senators the lead.

The Marlies came right back just under three minutes later with a goal of their own from Andrew Nielson after a face-off in the Senators zone. After that goal, the rivalry started to heat up. Brady Ferguson nailed Parker Kelly in front of the Belleville bench and that led to Eric Selleck going after Nielson and the Toronto bench. This resulted in a Marlies power play that led to a goal from Pierre Engvall to make it 2-1. After 20 minutes, Toronto led by one.

In the second period, both teams scored a goal. Belleville got on the board early when Andrew Sturtz scored to tie it up at two. But late in the frame, the Marlies headed back to the man advantage and they made Belleville pay for a second time. Adam Brooks was the beneficiary of a nice pass from Mason Marchment, firing it past Filip Gustavsson to restore the Marlies lead. After two periods, the Marlies led 3-2.

In the third period, the Senators came out strong. Just 44 seconds into the period, Nick Paul went top self on Scott to tie the game up, 3-3. But after that, the Senators could not stay out of the penalty box. They did not cave in for a third time on the penalty kill, but the momentum clearly shifted back to Toronto. With just over two minutes remaining in the period, Jeremy Bracco banked one off Gustavsson from behind the net to put the Marlies back on top 4-3, and that was the game-winning goal.

The Senators came close to getting the last laugh over their provincial rival, but a great performance from Scott in his professional debut lifted the Marlies over the Senators. It was a tough loss that saw the Senators take penalty after penalty, but it was not a bad performance from Belleville in their season finale.

▲ Nick Paul, Daniel Ciampini

▼ Patrick Sieloff, Ville Pokka

1. Pierre Engvall  TOR
2. Ian Scott  TOR
3. Daniel Ciampini  BEL

Quotes courtesy of AHL Report

We're pretty certain that @jbracco97 called bank here.#MarliesLive pic.twitter.com/mA42vO7tWq

— Toronto Marlies (@TorontoMarlies) April 15, 2018

RECAP | Comets – Senators: Belleville Overcomes Utica in Final Home Game of Season https://t.co/9F3K1zC0K0 pic.twitter.com/pauYkptgUw

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) April 15, 2018

From the Press Box | Rocket Report, Humboldt Broncos, NHL Playoff Predictions [Podcast S1/E28] https://t.co/5wR4S9Vy9X pic.twitter.com/3vDnrJgsTM

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) April 10, 2018

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