Monsters Rout Belleville Senators 7-2 in Dominant Road Victory

Luca Del Bel Belluz scored three times and Cleveland exploded for four third-period goals to dismantle the Belleville Senators 7-2 at CAA Arena on Wednesday night, lifting the Monsters to 33-20-6-1 and third place in the AHL's North Division.

Del Bel Belluz opened the scoring at 7:29 of the first period, tipping home his 20th goal of the season with Mikael Pyyhtiä and Dysin Mayo assisting. Belleville answered quickly: Arthur Kaliyev converted a pass from Xavier Bourgault at 8:49 to tie it, and in doing so set a new Belleville Senators single-season franchise record with his 32nd goal of the year. The Monsters reclaimed the lead at 17:55 when Luca Pinelli finished off a feed from Owen Sillinger, with Corson Ceulemans also picking up a helper, to send Cleveland into the first intermission up 2-1.

Kaliyev struck again just 1:32 into the second period to even things at 2-2, but Cleveland responded with the game's decisive swing. Pyyhtiä converted a power play at 7:47, finishing feeds from Sillinger and Luca Marrelli to put the Monsters back in front 3-2 heading into the final frame.

The third period belonged entirely to Cleveland. Del Bel Belluz scored his second of the night at 5:17, collecting a cross-crease pass from Hunter McKown, with Pyyhtiä adding a secondary assist to make it 4-2. McKown was central to the next goal as well: Zach Aston-Reese finished from the slot off a McKown feed to push the lead to 5-2. Roman Ahcan then broke free and scored into the empty net with less than four minutes remaining to extend it to 6-2. Del Bel Belluz completed the hat trick with 1:43 left, converting a pass from behind the net by Pinelli to seal the final margin.

Goaltender Berube made 31 saves for Cleveland. Belleville's Mandolese faced 29 shots while Belleville itself put 34 on net, finishing 1-for-6 on the power play, matching Cleveland's own conversion rate on six opportunities.

The Senators, now 24-29-8-0, host the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Friday. Cleveland returns to action Saturday against Syracuse.