Belleville edges Laval 7-6 in overtime, keeps playoff hopes alive

Belleville did more than survive a track meet at Place Bell. It banked two points against the North Division leader, and that mattered because the Senators entered the night seventh with 61 points in 67 games, still outside the playoff field while Laval sat first with 87 in 68 and already had its postseason ticket punched.

The 7-6 overtime win on April 10 was the kind of result that can keep a season from slipping away. Belleville opened a back-to-back against Laval in a game that turned chaotic almost immediately, with Joshua Roy scoring 1:25 into the first period for his 19th goal of the season after Marc Del Gaizo’s shot created the rebound. From there, the game became a nightly referendum on who could answer the latest punch.

Belleville answered enough of them. Xavier Bourgault scored twice in the comeback, including the tying goal at 5-5, and Arthur Kaliyev finished the job in overtime after also assisting on Bourgault’s third-period equalizer. Tyler Boucher and Olle Lycksell added the other Belleville goals, giving the Senators enough firepower to keep pace in a game where structure disappeared and the scoreboard kept moving.

That is what makes the result bigger than a box score. Belleville did not beat Laval by controlling the pace or locking down the neutral zone. It won because it kept producing after every swing, and because its top end came through in the moments that actually decide standings. Kaliyev’s overtime winner was the difference, but the sequence before it may have been the real turning point: Bourgault’s tying goal to erase another Laval lead, then the finish from a player who had already been involved in the biggest answer of the night.

Laval still got plenty from its own stars. Samuel Blais and Sean Farrell had multi-point nights, and Joshua Roy’s early strike set the tone for a game that never settled. Kaapo Kähkönen was in net for Laval, while Mads Søgaard started for Belleville in a contest that rewarded resilience more than clean possession.

Belleville’s situation in the North Division remains difficult, but this was the kind of win that keeps the door open. The Senators stayed in the chase, and they did it against the team at the top of the division, in a game that had enough goals, enough lead changes and enough recognizable names to make the point total feel earned.