Breaking Down Belleville’s Streak

After starting the 2023-24 season with a rollercoaster of performances, something has clicked for the Belleville Senators, and it all started right before Christmas.

Ahead of spending much deserved time with friends and family, the Belleville Senators hit the ice against the Toronto Marlies on December 22nd, defeating their provincial rivals 4-3. Unbeknownst to the fans, and perhaps the players, this performance kicked off a seven game winning-streak, which has seen the Senators rise from the basement of the North to third in the division. While you can thank the entire team for their efforts, the true heroes of this streak are the ones guarding the net.

This set of games has seen a split of four starts for Kevin Mandolese and three for Mads Søgaard. Through these seven contests, the two have a combined save percentage of .949.

For Mandolese, this is especially important to see as the Montreal-born goaltending prospect has had a bit of a rocky road in the AHL in his career to date. Through 43 starts across three seasons with Belleville, Mandolese has put up a .893 SV% and a 18-19-3 record. As we see regularly with goaltenders, it’s really difficult to predict the development curve in this position. For Mandolese, it’s taken some time, but a corner appears to have turned as he’s now sporting a .912 SV% and 6-3-1 record on the year.

For Søgaard, we’ve seen stronger play from the Danish netminder on a regular basis, but he’s now taken it to a new level. The 2019 second round pick has a .920 on the season, ranking him sixth league wide at the position. During this stretch, he has a .969 through three starts – a number which is undoubtedly boosted by his 27 save shutout on Wednesday night.

Outside of the goaltenders, players like Egor Sokolov, Matthew Highmore, and Roby Järventie have led the way offensively. The backend has been really solid, particularly when the team was missing Dillon Heatherington‘s defensive reliability while he represented Canada at the Spengler Cup. Rookie forward Zack Ostapchuk has also turned up the heat, with four goals and an assist during this seven game run.

Altogether, the Belleville Senators have turned a corner on a season that looked questionable back in November. All winning streaks come to an end eventually, but if the club plays as they’ve been playing more often than not, we’ll be seeing playoff hockey return to the Bay of Quinte in April.