The B-Sens Beat: Viva BelleVegas
The Belleville Senators began their first three-games-in-three-days stretch over the weekend, beginning with a "BelleVegas"-themed night against the Laval Rocket, followed by a home-and-home series with the Toronto Marlies.
While the B-Sens came away with four points over the weekend, there was a sense they could have earned more, especially in Friday's matchup against Laval.
In this week's edition of The B-Sens Beat, we look at the team's work on maintaining multi-goal leads, the return of defencemen Jorian Donovan and Hoyt Stanley to the lineup, and Eskild Bakke Olsen's first AHL goal as he continues his transition to North American hockey.
Quick results
Friday, October 16, 2026: Laval Rocket - 5 vs. Belleville Senators - 4 (OT)
Kasper Halttunen scored a hat trick, his first as a member of the Belleville Senators.
Defenceman Luke Mittelstadt had a goal and two assists for the Laval Rocket. As of this posting, he leads the AHL in points with 13.
Jonas Johansson made 41 saves on 46 shots.
Saturday, October 17, 2026: Toronto Marlies - 5 vs. Belleville Senators - 4 (OT)
Belleville had four different goal scorers: Oskar Pettersson, Ryan Suzuki, Eskild Bakke Olsen, and Kasper Halttunen.
Brendan Brisson scored two goals for the Marlies, including the overtime winner.
Jackson Parsons made 27 saves on 32 shots.
Sunday, October 18, 2026: Belleville Senators - 4 vs. Toronto Marlies - 2
Sammy Blais and Phil Tomasino each scored a goal for the B-Sens.
Vinny Borgesi of the Marlies had a goal and an assist in the loss.
Jonas Johansson made 20 saves on 22 shots.
Get the lead, keep the lead
Entering the three-game set, Belleville Senators Head Coach Andrew Campbell knew the team needed to improve.
The team was coming off a weekend of games where they struggled to generate offence early and take leads while also playing a consistent brand of hockey.
Campbell said the team emphasized this to the players in practice.
"We know we need to be better. We got to generate more; big focus in practice this week," Campbell told media before the game against Laval on Friday.
"We had a great week in practice. That said, we covered a lot of base points, and no crutch for the guys. They were really dialed in all week. So we hope to carry that forward here tonight."
For the moment, the message seemed to have resonated.
The B-Sens came out flying against the Laval Rocket, taking a 4–0 lead midway through the second period.
That included a hat trick from Kasper Halttunen in a span of just 12 minutes of game time, from the end of the first period into the start of the second.
But on BelleVegas night, the odds shifted.
The Rocket scored five unanswered goals, including three in the third period, to win in overtime.
Coach Campbell was blunt in his assessment.
"I just think we had some guys who performed very poorly, and we had a lot of 50-50 battles in the third that we lost," Campbell said following the game.
"I mean it boils down to the third period. The game should be in the bag, and then you think it's going to be easy. Some guys think it's going to be cookie night, and then next thing you know, you take a couple penalties, and they score, and then the momentum's in their favour, and it just kind of unravels from there."
Veteran defenceman Scott Harrington, entering his second season with the B-Sens and his 13th as a professional, talked about the mindset needed to overcome a third-period collapse.
"I think it's just up to everybody individually to just kind of take a breath and get back to basics, and you know, whenever there's big momentum shifts like that, it's important for whatever the next line is that's up to calm things down, maybe keep it a little more simple than they usually would," Harrington explained to media on Friday.
"Obviously, we didn't necessarily do that tonight, so you know, it cost us a point. There's lots to learn from, but yeah, this one stinks for sure."
Saturday's game saw the B-Sens welcome the Toronto Marlies to town to begin their home-and-home series.
Much like Friday, Belleville jumped out to an early lead, going up 2–0 just 3:30 into the first period.
However, the defending Calder Cup champions responded less than 30 seconds later to cut the deficit to one, before scoring again late in the first period to tie the game.
From there, it became a much closer matchup, with tight checking and puck battles at both ends of the ice.
Much like Friday night, Saturday's game also went to overtime, resulting in another 5–4 loss at home.
"I mean, it's a pretty even hockey game. It's competitive on both sides. Both sides made some plays, scored some goals," Campbell said following Saturday's game in a postgame scrum.
"Yeah, I mean it boils down to a one-shot game in overtime. You know, we had a two-on-zero; we couldn't convert. They come down, they score. That's what it is."
With the Belleville Senators leaving points on the table, the focus shifted to securing a road win just down Highway 401 in Toronto.
The story began much the same way on Sunday, with Belleville building a 2–0 lead, including a power-play goal from Phil Tomasino at 9:06 of the second period.
But this time, the B-Sens didn't give it up.
In another hard-fought matchup, Belleville never surrendered the lead, leaving Coca-Cola Coliseum with a 4–2 victory.
Two of Belleville's goals came into an empty net.
Campbell was asked about the message to the players heading into Sunday's matchup.
"The talk was we had a lead Friday night, and we showed what we don't want to do. So it was, hopefully we learned our lesson on Friday night, and let's dig in and manage the puck and make team plays,"
"Credit to the guys; they dug in and got it done."
The return of Hoyt Stanley and Jorian Donovan to the lineup
The weekend saw defencemen Hoyt Stanley and Jorian Donovan return to the Belleville Senators.
The two were called up to the Ottawa club following injuries to the defensive core, including Jake Sanderson, Artem Zub, and Nikolas Matinpalo.
Head Coach Andrew Campbell spoke about having the two players back in the lineup, adding to Belleville's defensive depth.
"Obviously, for both those guys, getting some NHL time under their belt here early in the season is awesome for them. It's awesome for their development," Campbell said before Friday's game against Laval.
"We're happy to see Ottawa get healthy, so we can get them back here. But we expect them to be good players for us, right? They've both played in the NHL. They both know what it takes to play in the NHL, so they've got to continue to fine-tune those habits here, and they'll be really good players for us."
Campbell also commented on Donovan's viral NHL fight with St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Peterson, which took place with his father, Shean, in the crowd.
"(Donovan's) a tough kid. There's no denying that. We've known that. We know that here. He's had some great fights here. He's a passionate guy. He cares about the team. He cares about winning. So yeah, it was a good fight for him," Campbell said.
Hoyt Stanley came out of the weekend on a two-game point streak, recording assists in both matchups against the Marlies.
Meanwhile, Donovan registered three shots on goal during Saturday's game against Toronto.
He did not play in Sunday's game.
Eskild Bakke Olsen gets his first AHL goal
One of the more intriguing prospects in the Senators organization is Norwegian forward Eskild Bakke Olsen.
Bakke Olsen caught the eye of Senators scouts after playing for the Norwegian team that won a bronze medal at the 2026 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland.
During the tournament, Bakke Olsen scored two goals and recorded three assists in 10 games.
He also played in the Swedish Hockey League for Linköping HC, scoring 11 goals and recording 21 assists in 52 regular-season games during the 2025–26 season.
On Saturday, the 24-year-old scored his first career AHL goal on the power play.
"Always good to get the first. It's kind of a burden on you, so it was a great play from everyone in the (powerplay) lineup there, so a great pass from (Blais) and a good setup. So it was some kilos or pounds off my back," Bakke Olsen told media after the game.
He admitted that making the transition to the North American style of play has been different for him.
"I hope I'll get faster into it, but as the weeks go on here, I feel like I'm getting better and better, and trying to, like, read the game more over here," Bakke Olsen explained.
"So it's a lot more north-south than back home in Europe. So I'm trying to get better every day, and the season is long, so it's still like 66 games or something left. So try to get better every day, and we'll see at the end of the season."
Bakke Olsen also explained some elements of his game he wants to improve as he continues the transition.
"I'm not the fastest skater, and I tried to work on that in the summer and a little bit of cardio too to get the five to 10 extra seconds in the shifts around the boards because it's smaller," he said.
"So tighter every shift there, and you don't get that much time, so those things."
Bakke Olsen followed up on Sunday with an assist on an empty-net goal from Tyler Boucher, entering the Pennsylvania road trip on a two-game point streak.
With his first AHL goal behind him, Bakke Olsen will look to build on that momentum as he continues adjusting to the smaller ice surface and faster pace of the North American game.
Other news & notes
Kasper Halttunen and Xavier Bourgault are tied for the team lead in points with eight each so far this season.
Jonas Johansson continues to be a strong presence in net for Belleville, posting a 3-1-1 record, a .912 save percentage, and a 2.92 goals-against average so far this season.
Phil Tomasino showed strong stickhandling skills, entering the offensive zone multiple times over the weekend. He continues to be one of the highlights of Belleville's offseason acquisitions.
Goaltender Kevin Reidler has been sent down to the ECHL's Allen Americans for playing time. Reidler has yet to appear in a Belleville Senators game this season.
Blake Montgomery and Landen Hookey are getting closer to returning to the lineup. Head Coach Andrew Campbell told media on Friday that Montgomery has been participating in non-contact skating. Hookey is a little further behind, but the hope is that both players will return to the lineup this weekend.
The B-Sens hit the road this weekend for another three-game set, this time through Pennsylvania. They'll first take on the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday night, head to "Chocolate Town" to face the Hershey Bears on Saturday, then finish their Pennsylvania road trip with an afternoon matchup against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on Sunday.
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