ROCKET
Laval

2-3

COMETS
Utica

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Carr – Holland – Terry
Audette – McCarron – Gregoire
Veilleux – Petti – Baun
Boucher – Ebbing – Waked[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Schlemko – Taormina
Parisi – Lernout
Gelinas – Leblanc[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:
McNiven
Fucale

Scratches:

David Broll, Simon Bourque, Willie Corrin, Charlie Lindgren

Injury List:

Noah Juulsen (foot), Jeremiah Addison (shoulder), Markus Eisenschmid (lower body)

Game Report

The Laval Rocket returned home this week after a tough two-game series in Winnipeg against the Manitoba Moose. Despite playing well in the latter game of the series, the Rocket couldn’t muster a win at Bell MTS Place. With just one day of practice under the belt before their next matchup, they needed to be sharp when the Utica Comets came to town on Friday night.

The two teams seemed to size each other up a bit for the first half of the opening period, with Utica taking four different minor penalties, creating five-on-three chances for Laval on more than one occasion. However the Rocket’s power play didn’t seem up to the task as they couldn’t get a puck past Richard Bachman – unless you count the one Daniel Audette potted which was waived off by the officials for goaltender interference.

Then Utica returned the favor with a goal of their own, except this one counted. Laval seemed to control the play for most of the first 40 minutes of the game, outshooting their opponent 18-7 in those two frames.

Halfway through the second period, Yannick Veilleux got a stick on a wildly bouncing puck down low and managed to get it through Bachman for his second goal of the season. The Comets responded just a few minutes later on the power play. Veilleux then potted his second goal of the night by deflecting the puck from Brett Lernout’s hard shot right past Bachman.

Utica would manage a go-ahead goal shortly into the third period, and despite Laval’s best efforts, they couldn’t come up with a third equalizer on the night. They dropped this decision 3-2 against their division rivals.

Charlie Lindgren returned to the team on Friday night after the Canadiens announced Carey Price’s return to the lineup. Lindgren is slated to start in net on Saturday afternoon when these two teams meet again.

▲     Yannick Veilleux, Niki Petti, Kyle Baun, Brett Lernout

▼     Eric Gelinas, Matt Taormina

1. Michael Chaput  UTI
2. Richard Bachman  UTI
3. Yannick Veilleux  LAV

Post-game interview with David Schlemko

Post-game interview with Michael McCarron

Post-game interview with Michael McNiven

Interviews conducted by Amy Johnson for AHL Report

From the Press Box | Rocket Recap and Preview, AHL News, Thanksgiving Top 5 [Podcast S1/E10] https://t.co/cE5XSkd56d pic.twitter.com/gKZnbjYkhb

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) November 21, 2017

Both goals tonight for @RocketLaval courtesy of Yannick Veilleux. He bumps his goal total to three on the season. #goRocket @RocketSports @FlyersRule @TheAHL pic.twitter.com/JCaatLB2sD

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) November 25, 2017

A Schlemko sighting. #GoRocket #GoHabsGo @RocketSports @FlyersRule pic.twitter.com/AQdIU3jwbY

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) November 25, 2017

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