ROCKET
Laval

2-4

THUNDERBIRDS
Springfield

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Jevpalovs – Evans – Grenier
Audette – McCarron – Alain
Shinkaruk – Vejdemo – Froese
Agostino – Chaput – Belzile[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Kulak – Lernout
Sklenicka – Lamarche
Moravcik – Fleury[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:
McNiven
Lindgren

Scratches:

Jeremiah Addison, Hayden Verbeek, Gustav Olofsson, Michael Pezzetta, Adam Plant, Etienne Marcoux

Injury List:

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

On Saturday afternoon, the Springfield Thunderbirds headed to Place Bell trying to win the second game of a back-to-back series against the Laval Rocket, after having winning by a score of 5-3 on Friday night. Michael McNiven made his second start of the season, giving Charlie Lindgren the afternoon off as the backup goaltender.

The Thunderbirds opened the scoring 4:37 into the first period as McNiven made the save on a shot by Jayce Hawryluk, but his defensemen weren’t able to clear the rebound and Anthony Greco put the puck in the net for the second time this weekend.

The Rocket’s powerplay has struggled since the start of the season, but in their first man-advantage opportunity of the game, Kenny Agostino took possession of the puck from deep in his own zone, carried it through the neutral zone while making his way through the Thunderbirds’ defence and put the puck top corner blocker side through Chris Driedger.  The highlight reel-worthy goal was Agostino’s second of the season.

Springfield only took four shots in the second period, but it was all they needed for Jacob MacDonald to score with point shot that made its way through traffic to find the back of the Laval net. Sebastian Repo quieted the 4,191 fans at Place Bell at the 5:54 mark of the third period when he scored on a 2-on-1, after Lukas Vejdemo fell on the ice.

With McNiven called to the bench for an extra attacker, Agostino cut the lead to one goal with a hard shot from the point that found its way past Driedger. That goal woke up his teammates and the crowd, which led to several scoring chances which Laval unfortunately couldn’t finish. Joel Lowry sealed the game with an empty net goal with 5 seconds remaining.

The Rocket dominated their opponents in shots on goal and possession, but weren’t able to capitalize on their scoring chances. The Rocket fall under the .500 mark, while Springfield remains undefeated in regulation time.

The Rocket now head to Toronto to face the Marlies on Tuesday night at 7:00 pm EST.

▲     Kenny Agostino, Cale Fleury, Daniel Audette

▼     Michal Moravcik, Maxim Lamarche, Alexandre Grenier

1. Chris Driedger  SPR
2. Sebastian Repo  SPR
3. Kenny Agostino  LAV

Interviews conducted by Amy Johnson for AHL Report

RECAP | Thunderbirds – Rocket: Springfield Scores Three Late, Defeats Laval https://t.co/R1sz0y9kA7 pic.twitter.com/W4d97Ojute

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) October 20, 2018

From The Press Box Podcast | Rocket and Phantoms Review, AHL News, more [S2/E5] https://t.co/CreqP1oljO pic.twitter.com/IGtlU0CQLZ

— AHL Report (@TheAHLReport) October 16, 2018

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