After a 7-4 win against the Syracuse Crunch to begin November this past Saturday, the Belleville Senators had five days off before their game against the Utica Comets, which was the start of a tough back-to-back-to-back.
A struggling Utica team, which entered tonight's game with one win through its first eight games, seemed to have been the right team for Belleville to start its back-to-back-to-back, but it would turn into a disaster for Belleville.
Utica shutout Belleville 3-0 at Adirondack Bank Center. With the loss, Belleville fell to 4-5-1-0 overall on the season.
"We just didn't have our best tonight," said Hunter Shepard after the game.
Tonight's game was personal for one Comet, Angus Crookshank. This past Summer, Crookshank left the Senators organization to sign with the New Jersey Devils. Crookshank would make the most of his chances to beat his old team.
Belleville would have a sloppy first period with trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes. Utica got three powerplay chances in the period and scored on one of them after Matyas Melovasky scored a goal. Shepard made 14 saves in the period to keep the game at just 1-0.
Calen Addison scored 3:40 into the second period to make it 2-0. Then, Crookshank got his chance to give Belleville a bitter taste. Almost 10 minutes after Addison's goal, Crookshank scored to make it 3-0 heading into the second intermission.
A lot of love shown to Angus Crookshank after the game by his former teammates. I asked Crookshank how'd it feel playing his former team, he said it felt weird. Had a big smile when I asked him about his goal
— Jake Ferraro (@18Jxxx18) November 8, 2025
In the third period, Nico Daws made six saves to hold onto the shutout win for Utica. Overall, Daws finished with 19 saves. Tonight was the first time Belleville was shutout this season.
Despite the loss, Shepard was the only bright spot for Belleville. While he allowed in three goals, Shepard tied his season high by making 35 saves. Without Shepard's goaltending, the score could've been worse than 3-0 against Utica. Shepard mentioned postgame that the goal he allowed in to Crookshank is one he'd like to have back. Even with a solid performance in goal, Shepard is still putting winning above his individual play.
Hunter Shepard following Belleville's 3-0 loss at Utica pic.twitter.com/B3h9cLTsSe
— Jake Ferraro (@18Jxxx18) November 8, 2025
Belleville will return to action tomorrow night when they host the Hartford Wolf Pack at CAA Arena in their second game of their back-to-back-to-back. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Tomorrow will be Belleville's first game against Hartford this season.