Belleville Sens Now: Pennsylvania Road Trip
The Belleville Senators embarked on their first road trip of the season this past weekend, travelling through Pennsylvania for three games in three days.
The B-Sens hoped to continue their point streak from their previous three-in-three, which saw them secure four of a possible six points just a weekend earlier.
Throughout the weekend, all eyes were on the B-Sens to see whether they could find consistency in maintaining early leads while also relying on their young goaltenders in Jackson Parsons and the recently called-up Kevin Reidler.
In this week's edition of Belleville Sens Now (we found a new title!), we look at Belleville's attempts to maintain early leads, Blake Montgomery's season debut after recovering from an injury, and the performances of Jackson Parsons and Kevin Reidler.
Quick results
Friday, October 23, 2026: Belleville Senators - 7 vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins - 3
Tyler Boucher scored two goals for the B-Sens in their victory.
Daniel Russell had a goal and an assist for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Jackson Parsons made 32 saves on 35 shots.
Saturday, October 24, 2026: Belleville Senators - 2 vs. Hershey Bears - 5
Phil Tomasino tallied a goal and an assist.
Spencer Smallman began the Bears' run of five unanswered goals.
Jackson Parsons made 34 saves on 37 shots.
Sunday, October 25, 2026: Belleville Senators - 0 vs. Lehigh Valley Phantoms - 2
Belleville managed only 16 shots on goal in the shutout loss.
Lehigh Valley's goals came from Kyle Studnicka and Zach Aston-Reese.
Kevin Reidler made 21 saves on 23 shots.
Strong starts, tougher finishes
A three-in-three is never the most fun stretch of games. A three-in-three entirely on the road, in three different cities, can make it even more of a grind.
That's where the Belleville Senators found themselves over the weekend as they began their first extended road trip of the 2026–27 season.
Belleville Senators Head Coach Andrew Campbell spoke about the team's preparation ahead of its first game in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
"The biggest thing was making sure the guys got the rest. Those three-and-three weekends, they're taxing physically; they're taxing mentally," Campbell told media in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Friday.
"So guys got a couple days off the ice early in the week, and then good practice on Wednesday, and then got on the bus (Thursday) morning. We got here and got the guys on the ice to flush out the legs and feel the puck a little bit and ideally, wanted to keep as many guys off the ice (Friday) morning as we could with another three-and-three here this weekend, so skating once we got here (Thursday) allowed us to do that, so yeah, good week for us."
While a three-in-three road weekend can put the team's conditioning to the test, Campbell said it also presents an opportunity for the players to bond.
"You get to go and eat together, and you're on the rink together pretty much every day around the hotel together," Campbell explained.
"So it's a tough weekend. Like I said, you know, playing three really good teams in a three-and-three scenario, so we've got to be ready to go."
Much like we've seen from the team this season, the B-Sens came out to a strong start against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday, scoring three goals in the first period.
However, the inconsistencies that have plagued Belleville early in the season resurfaced in the second period, with the Penguins responding with three goals of their own.
Belleville managed to maintain its lead with a power-play goal.
The third period saw Belleville put the exclamation point on the hockey game, scoring another three goals, including a power-play goal and an empty-netter, to secure the victory.
"Didn't like the second at all. Clearly, got away from a lot of the stuff that made us successful in the first, and it's kind of been a theme of our team here early in the year. We have our ups and downs, and not a lot of consistency period to period, which is frustrating," Campbell explained following the victory.
"But yeah, guys got it back on track and had a good third period, a little more along the lines of what we saw in the first and again, learned our lesson last Friday against Laval. We didn't let them deploy that far, so that was good."
On Saturday, the Belleville Senators took a 2–0 lead against the Hershey Bears at 6:35 of the second period.
From there, the Bears responded with five unanswered goals, and the B-Sens fell 5–2.
"They threw a lot of pucks at our net, recovered a lot of pucks in our zone, threw them back in the net, recovered them again, and they were pretty relentless in the wave of attack that they brought towards us, and yeah, the game's pretty tilted," Campbell said following the loss, explaining how Hershey got back into the hockey game.
"We didn't have much time in the O-Zone to even get any shots towards their net. We did turn down some opportunities when we had them, but that being said, we still had some pretty good chances there in the third with breakaways and two-on-ones and whatnot, but didn't capitalize."
The loss ended Belleville's four-game point streak.
In an afternoon matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday, the B-Sens were shut out for the first time this season, losing 2–0.
Belleville struggled to generate offence, managing only 11 shots on goal with approximately five minutes remaining in the third period.
The B-Sens finished with just 16 shots on goal.
The team will look to regain its scoring touch when it returns home to Belleville on Friday.
Blake Montgomery makes his debut
Blake Montgomery made his 2026–27 season debut in Friday's game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Montgomery had been recovering from an injury suffered during Ottawa Senators training camp.
The 2024 fourth-round selection made his AHL debut last year after signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Senators organization.
Montgomery arrived in the organization with experience playing on championship-calibre teams, including the 2024–25 OHL champion London Knights, where he was teammates with Kasper Halttunen.
A year later, he appeared in the NCAA Frozen Four final with the Wisconsin Badgers alongside teammate and fellow Senators prospect Bruno Idzan.
Despite not making the scoresheet, Montgomery's quickness was evident while showing playmaking ability from the wing.
Head Coach Andrew Campbell assessed Montgomery's season debut.
"Thought (Montgomery) was awesome," Campbell told media following the game against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
"He brings a real element of speed to our team. He made some creative plays with the puck. Yeah, just really happy to have him in the fold. He's going to be a really good player for us."
Montgomery didn't find the scoresheet during the three-in-three, recording three shots on goal over the weekend.
Young goaltenders get showcased
Young goaltenders Jackson Parsons and Kevin Reidler got opportunities over the weekend after Jonas Johansson was called up to the Ottawa Senators following Linus Ullmark's injury.
Parsons had already seen some action this season, going 0-1-1 with a 4.48 goals-against average and an .850 save percentage over two games heading into the weekend.
Meanwhile, Kevin Reidler made his first start on Sunday after being called up from the ECHL's Allen Americans.
Reidler didn't receive any playing time during his stint in the ECHL.
Coach Campbell said it was an opportunity for the young goaltenders to showcase themselves.
"If Jonas is still here, he's probably looking at two starts this weekend, obviously. But yeah, now that he's gone, you know, (Parsons) gets to step in and be the guy, and (Reidler) is here now," Campbell told media ahead of Friday's matchup in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
"So we'll see how the weekend unfolds and see what develops there. But it's an opportunity for those guys. They're young guys looking to prove themselves, and now they get the opportunity to do that."
Parsons got the start against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, with Campbell highlighting his work ethic heading into the game.
"Parsons is awesome, you know, his work ethic is outstanding. His practice, his habits, the way he prepares, everything is top-notch. So yeah, looking forward to seeing him get in there and showing us what he's got," Campbell said.
Both goaltenders certainly played like they were out to prove themselves.
On Friday, Parsons turned in a 32-save performance on 35 shots, good for a .914 save percentage and his first win of the season.
The next night against the Hershey Bears, Parsons turned in arguably a better performance that ultimately didn't show up in the record books.
He made 34 saves on 37 shots, posting a .919 save percentage, but the team couldn't hold off a third-period push.
"He was outstanding," Campbell said after the game in Hershey.
"I mean, (Parsons) held us in there for a large portion of the night, and it's just unfortunate it went down the way it did in the third. But he was really good for us."
On Sunday, the B-Sens got to see Kevin Reidler in net against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
In his outing, Reidler made 21 saves on 23 shots, posting a .913 save percentage.
Despite Reidler allowing just two goals, Belleville couldn't generate any offence in support of its young goaltender and was shut out for the first time this season.
With Johansson continuing to see NHL action, Parsons and Reidler should continue getting opportunities this upcoming weekend.
Other news & notes
Former Ottawa Senators first-round pick Shane Bowers continues to maximize his PTO, recording three goals and three assists in nine games so far this season.
As of this posting, Phil Tomasino leads Belleville in points, with four goals and seven assists in 10 games this season.
Landen Hookey did not see any game action this past weekend as he continues to recover from an injury. There's no word yet on whether he will make his season debut this weekend.
Luke Mistelbacher has been assigned to the ECHL's Allen Americans.
Kurtis MacDermid has been assigned to Belleville. We'll see if he gets inserted into the lineup this weekend.
The Belleville Senators return home on Friday when the Hartford Wolf Pack come to town. One of Friday's promotions is a wiener dog race during intermission. On Sunday, the B-Sens will take on the Toronto Marlies, with the game also celebrating the anniversary of the B-Sens' first puck drop at the now-renamed CIBC Place. I'll be on the call with David Foot on AHLTV on FloHockey for Sunday's game.
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