Laval Rocket vs Rochester Americans Game Recap: Line-up, Score, Game Report, Statistics, Highlights, Three Stars, Rocket Sports Media
| FINAL | Regular Season – Game 59 | Friday, February 28, 2020 |
| Blue Cross Arena, Rochester, NY |
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ROCKET Laval |
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2-4 |
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AMERICANS Rochester |
Rocket LineupForward linesYannick Veilleux – Ryan Poehling – Kevin Lynch Jacob Lucchini – Laurent Dauphin – Nikita Jevpalovs Alexandre Alain – Lukas Vejdemo – Joe Cox Michael Pezzetta – Aaron Luchuk – Antoine Waked Defense pairingsGustav Olofsson – Josh Brook Otto Leskinen – Maxim Lamarche Ryan Culkin – Cale Fleury GoaltendersCayden Primeau – Michael McNiven ScratchesKeith Kinkaid, Nathanael Halbert, Justin Woods, Jesperi Kotkaniemi (flu) InjuriesNoah Juulsen (upper body), Alex Belzile (pectoral surgery), Hayden Verbeek, Will Pelletier, Evan McEneny, Joseph Blandisi 
Game ReportGame Report written by Amy JohnsonThe Rocket got a boost last weekend when they finally snapped their losing streak with two back-to-back wins at home. They found further relief on Wednesday night when they earned their first road win since mid-January against the Belleville Senators.
But bad news continued to haunt the Rocket, as early in the day on Friday the team announced that Jesperi Kotkaniemi would be sidelined in tonight’s game while battling the flu.
That meant an entirely new top line would make its debut against the Rochester Americans, with Cayden Primeau making his fourth consecutive start in net.
The Amerks put their stamp on the game early, though, when Rami Elie took advantage of a loose puck off a faceoff in the Rocket zone and softly tossed the puck toward the net. It trickled under Primeau’s outstretched pad and Rochester was up early.
For the remainder of the period, it was mostly a pretty back-and-forth kind of game, with each team getting a couple of good looks at the net but no scoring.
Otto Leskinen, in his first game back from injury, took a late high-sticking penalty and with just 43 seconds left in the period, Casey Mittelstadt buried a big rebound to make it 2-0 for Rochester.
One word can describe the second period: weird. It began with Kevin Porter laying a hit on Jacob Lucchini along the boards which earned him a match penalty, including a five-minute major. Lucchini was very slow to get up from the hit.
But before play was stopped to call the penalty, the Rocket seemed to have knocked the puck into the net. Upon review, an Amerks player had batted it down behind the net with a high stick, the puck landed on top of the net, fell down and into the goal. Nikita Jevpalovs was awarded the tally.
Later in the period, Maxim Lamarche was found guilty for hooking Rasmus Asplund as the Rochester forward drove to the Laval net. Asplund was given a penalty shot, in which he actually had Primeau beaten cleanly, but he shot the puck wide of the net.
About 30 seconds later, Alexandre Alain connected with Laurent Dauphin on a give-and-go to even the score at 2-2 before the buzzer sounded for intermission.
The third period, although even in shots at 10-10, seemed to be tilted completely in the favor of the Rocket. Their forecheck was exceptionally strong, making it next to impossible for Rochester to maintain puck possession or open any shooting lanes.
With just about five minutes left in the period, however, William Borgen fired a blast from the point which Eric Cornel deflected backhand as he crossed in front of the crease to allow the Amerks to retake the lead. An empty-net goal with seven seconds remaining put the Rocket away for good.
With many divisional opponents winning their games on this night, the Rocket slip back to seventh place in the North Division, but still only three points back of a playoff spot. The race gets tighter as Laval heads to Utica for another division clash on Saturday night.
Plus / Minus▲ Cale Fleury, Laurent Dauphin, Alexandre Alain▼ Maxim Lamarche, Aaron Luchuk, Ryan Poehling
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The Numbers
| Game Statistics | ||
| ROCKET | AMERICANS | |
| 36 | Shots | 30 |
| 0 for 4 | Power Play | 1 for 2 |
| 4 | Penalty Minutes | 16 |
| Scoring Summary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stars of the Game
| AHL Official Three Stars | ||
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Watch
| Video Highlights |
What Did They Say?
| Post-game Interviews | |
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Interviews conducted by Amy Johnson for AHL Report |
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Social Media
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FEATURE | Penn State: A Winning Hockey Culture [VIDEO] https://t.co/Xxh6dwkOzT pic.twitter.com/IAa2WfHN9a
— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) February 27, 2020
From The Press Box ep. 112 | Trade Deadline, Nick Hart, Outdoor Game https://t.co/IXescBXDhX pic.twitter.com/JASB6KywJg
— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) February 25, 2020
RECAP | Rocket – Senators: Finally, A Road Win for Laval https://t.co/NMIKRJNNoX pic.twitter.com/IWzZCojpgH
— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) February 27, 2020
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