Belleville’s Seven-Goal Outburst Powers 7-3 Win Over Utica Comets

Belleville scored seven times in a dominant 7-3 victory over the Utica Comets at CAA Arena on Saturday, March 7, 2026, opening the scoring in the first minute when rookie defender Carter Yakemchuk, assisted by Olle Lycksell, beat Utica starter Nico Daws. The Senators kept pressure through the early stages, and the game quickly turned into an offensive statement for Belleville, which sources said "poured shots and traffic at the net all night."

Utica answered a couple minutes after the Yakemchuk strike when Brian Halonen delivered a long cross-crease pass in the corner to Xavier Parent for Parent's 16th goal of the season, tying the game 1-1. Belleville regained the lead later in the period on a scramble; Lycksell slipped the puck to Tyler Boucher, who buried a backhand to restore a 2-1 advantage. Belleville then converted on the power play when Graeme Clarke picked up his first Senators point with a feed to Arthur Kaliyev for what AHLTV described as "his thirty-first [...]" on the tally, putting the Senators up, and sending Belleville into the intermission ahead.

The middle frame produced a two-goal burst for Belleville that pushed the score to 5-1. Graeme Clarke threaded a pass up high to Olle Lycksell for what the Belleville news release identified as Lycksell's third point of the night and a 4-1 lead. Fourteen seconds later Clarke scored his first goal for Belleville off a feed from Carter Yakemchuk, making it 5-1 and underscoring the multi-line contributions from the Senators.

Utica mounted a third-period rally but could not close the gap. On the power play, a Halonen shot from the high circle resulted in Jonathan Gruden putting home his eighth goal of the season, cutting the deficit to 5-2. Just before the twelve-minute mark of the third, Cam Squires capitalized on a turnover in front to make it 5-3. Belleville added two more goals after those Utica strikes to reach the final 7-3 score; the available game releases do not identify the scorers or assists on the final two Belleville goals.

Individual nights of note included Yakemchuk's opening goal plus an assist on Clarke's second-period score, Olle Lycksell recording at least three points through the middle frame, Clarke picking up both his first Senators point and his first goal for Belleville, Arthur Kaliyev scoring on the power play with the truncated "thirty-first [...]" notation in the play-by-play, and Utica contributors Xavier Parent with his 16th and Jonathan Gruden with his 8th. The game story highlights Belleville's depth of scoring and the rookie impact from Yakemchuk, while the final box score and Belleville goaltender statistics remain to be confirmed to complete the full game ledger.