Blake Montgomery and the Belleville Senators suffered a narrow 1–0 defeat away against the Utica Comets in a tightly contested second meeting of the season between the two sides.
Montgomery registered three shots on goal for Belleville, who matched their hosts stride for stride through two scoreless periods before a third-period power-play deflection proved the difference.
Both netminders stood tall during a cagey opening period that produced plenty of special-teams action but no breakthrough. Belleville killed off an early penalty and created chances with three power-play opportunities of their own, outshooting Utica 8–6 before the first intermission.
The pattern continued in the middle frame as neither side managed to find a way past Utica's Jakub Malek or Belleville's Kevin Reidler. The Comets held the territorial edge in the second period—outshooting the Senators 11–5 and earning two power plays—yet Belleville's penalty-kill unit held firm while their own man-advantage came up empty.
Utica finally broke the stalemate in the final 20 minutes to claim the points. Working the puck inside the offensive zone near the end of a power play, Anton Silaev fed Ben Steeves down low, whose sharp cross-ice pass found Xavier Parent. Parent's shot deflected past Reidler to give the Comets a 1–0 lead.
Belleville pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages but could not solve Malek, who turned aside all 19 shots he faced to record the shutout. At the other end, Reidler finished with 26 saves on 27 shots in a losing effort for the Senators.
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