Blake Montgomery scored twice as the Belleville Senators secured a convincing 5-2 victory over the Providence Bruins to conclude Hockey Fights Cancer Weekend.
A lively opening period saw opportunities at both ends of the ice, but it was the hosts who broke the deadlock on the man advantage. Kasper Halttunen struck his 10th goal of the campaign, blasting a one-timer past the Providence goaltender following slick build-up play from Christian Kyrou and Philippe Daoust.
The contest burst into life during an eventful second frame. Just 42 seconds after the restart, Dans Locmelis levelled for the Bruins courtesy of assists from Riley Duran and Ivan Ivan.
Belleville's response was swift. Djibril Toure and Ryan Suzuki combined neatly to set up Montgomery, who restored the Senators' lead with a composed finish.
The momentum remained firmly with the home side as Tyler Boucher pounced on a rebound at 7:35—cashing in after neat approach work by Eskild Bakke Olsen and Xavier Bourgault—to stretch the advantage to 3-1.
Providence threatened a comeback midway through the period when Locmelis batted a loose puck out of mid-air for his second of the night, trimming the deficit to 3-2. However, parity was short-lived. Just six seconds later, Luke Ellinas stripped possession straight from the face-off and raced clear to bury his second goal in as many games, reinstating Belleville's two-goal cushion.
Montgomery put the result beyond doubt in the final period. Suzuki worked the puck up the boards to Oskar Pettersson, who picked out Montgomery cutting toward the crease before the forward executed a sharp wrap-around finish to seal the win.
At the other end, netminder Jackson Parsons delivered a stellar display, turning aside 31 of 33 shots to record his third consecutive victory and ensure Belleville took maximum points.
