Rocket Lineup

Alex Belzile – Jake Evans – Riley Barber

Alexandre Alain – Lukas Vejdemo – Nikita Jevpalovs

Michael Pezzetta – Kevin Lynch – William Pelletier

Antoine Waked – Hayden Verbeek – Morgan Adams-Moisan

Otto Leskinen – Josh Brook

Jonathan Racine – Maxim Lamarche

Ryan Culkin – David Sklenicka

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Scratches

Karl Alzner, Marc-Olivier Crevier-Morin, Xavier Ouellet, Gabriel Sylvestre, Connor LaCouvee, Joe Cox, Michael McNicholas, Cody Milan, Matthew Peca, Philip Varone, Dale Weise

Injuries

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Laval Rocket opened up their pre-season schedule on Saturday afternoon with a matchup against their division rival Belleville Senators. A crowd of 4,646 was in attendance for this game as fans took the opportunity to watch the game free of charge, courtesy of a promotion by the organization. These two teams will face each other 12 times during the regular season. 

Noah Juulsen skated on his own in the morning as part of his recovery. Karl Alzner, Matthew Peca, Phil Varone, Xavier Ouellet, and Dale Weise all took part in practice with the remaining players who didn’t play on Saturday. All five cleared waivers on Friday and were assigned to the AHL. 

Cayden Primeau got his first start in a Rocket uniform and was scheduled to play for the entire game. 

The Senators took the crowd out of the game early as they scored three goals on their first five shots. While Alexandre Alain was serving a holding penalty, Jonathan Davidsson scored at the 3:32 mark when he was left all alone from the left face-off circle. Alex Formenton scored a pair of goals to give his team a three-goal lead: at the 6:19 mark, he beat Primeau with a shot on a three-on-one, and at the 9:03 mark, he tipped a shot taken by Morgan Klimchuk.  

Laval took control of the remainder of the period, allowing one shot to Belleville in the second half of the period, but the Rocket weren’t able to capitalize on their two power plays. 

Marcus Hogberg was on top of his game in the second period having to make several spectacular saves in the frame. It started with a glove save on Riley Barber from the slot, later following that up with consecutive pad saves on Lucas Vejdemo and Nikita Jevpalovs as they were trying to put the puck past him during a power play. Midway through the second period, Kevin Lynch went on a shorthanded breakaway, but Hogberg was able to make a glove stop to end that threat. 

Alain opened up the scoring for Laval at the 13:38 mark with a top corner shot on the glove side after getting a pass from William Pelletier. The goal was scored one second after the end of the Rocket power play. 

Belleville added two goals to their lead early in the third period. Jonathan Aspirot redirected a shot into the goal, 2:46 into the frame. Forty-nine seconds later, Mark Kastelic scored from a bad angle, a goal that Primeau would probably like to have back. Jevpalovs’ shot with 1:55 remaining found its way behind the net through traffic. It was Laval’s only power play goal in nine opportunities during the game. 

The third period was highlighted with a lot of physical play. Jonathan Racine and Michael Pezzetta both engaged in fights during the second half of the period. 

Laval will play their second and final pre-season game on Sunday afternoon. Joel Bouchard confirmed that Michael McNiven and Connor LaCouvee will both play.  

Listen to the player below for full audio of our post-game interviews.

Plus / Minus

▲  Riley Barber, Kevin Lynch, Alexandre Alain

▼  Jonathan Racine, Josh Brook, Cayden Primeau, Alex Belzile