Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jordan Weal – Jesse Ylonen

Yannick Veilleux – Lukas Vejdemo – Alex Belzile

Joseph Blandisi – Ryan Poehling – Joel Teasdale

Michael Pezzetta – Jan Mysak – Jake Lucchini

Corey Schueneman – Otto Leskinen

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Cale Fleury

Nathanael Halbert – Josh Brook

Cayden Primeau, Michael McNiven

Liam Hawel, Hayden Verbeek, Jacob Leguerrier, Cameron Hillis, Vasily Demchenko, Guillaume Brisbois, Terrance Amorosa, Tristan Pomerleau, Arsen Khisamutdinov, Brandon Baddock, Gustav Olofsson

N/A

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

For the first time this season, the Rocket had a game against the Marlies on their calendar. Coming off of a 3-1 victory against Belleville on Wednesday night, Laval needed to have a strong start against a very skilled Toronto team.

Cayden Primeau started in net for the third consecutive game, and with Gustav Olofsson on a temporary absence to travel home with his expecting wife, Nathanael Halbert drew into the lineup for his season debut.

Of note on the Toronto side, former Habs forward Alex Galchenyuk could be found on the top line. Galchenyuk was traded from Ottawa to Carolina on February 13, and then two days later was traded again to Toronto. He was sent to the AHL and, going into tonight’s game, had amassed one goal and four assists in four games played.

First Period

It was an odd start to this game as, 23 seconds after the opening faceoff, Scott Sabourin raced down the ice with and into the offensive zone with Corey Schueneman hot on his trail. He and the Laval defensemen made contact as they drove toward the net, which sent Sabourin sailing into Primeau, who was knocked clear to the far corner.

Lukas Vejdemo immediately came to the defense of his netminder, and a large scrum ensued. Primeau eventually got back on his skates and took up his position in the crease, and Vejdemo was assessed a two-minute roughing minor.

Sabourin received a two-minute goaltender interference penalty, a five-minute major for fighting, and a game misconduct for being an aggressor. It was his first shift in his first game of the season.

Then the game seemed to start for real. Despite not getting anything going on their five-minute power play, the Rocket did manage to get on the scoreboard first when Otto Leskinen ripped a shot from the point that deflected off of Joseph Blandisi in front.

Both teams kept up a blistering pace, but Laval seemed to control the play a bit more and maintained good pressure in the offensive zone. Nic Petan, however, put a damper on things when he tied the game by burying a rebound off of Timothy Liljegren‘s shot from the slot. Galchenyuk did his part by parking in front of the net and getting Schueneman tangled up, taking away his ability to help defend the crease.

Before the teams headed to their dressing rooms for intermission, Tobie Paquette-Brisson took exception to a hit and dropped the gloves with Toronto tough guy Rich Clune. The scrap didn’t last long, and Bisson took the brunt of it, but the bench seemed to appreciate the effort.

Second Period

Toronto took full control of the game in the second period, outshooting the Rocket 16-9 in the frame and putting three goals on the board.

First, Alexander Barabanov scored his first North American goal when Galchenyuk made a slick move to get him the puck and he tucked it past Primeau.

Next, Galchenyuk scored a goal for himself with an absolute snipe from the right circle that beat Primeau clean. Soon after that goal, he and Blandisi got into a pretty good tussle in front of the Marlies bench. For a second, it looked like Galchenyuk may have earned himself a Gordie Howe hat trick, but he only received a two-minute minor for roughing. Blandisi was given a double minor for roughing.

Shortly after those penalties expired, Jesse Ylonen got one back for Laval when he snapped the puck to the top corner over Joseph Woll‘s shoulder to score his third goal of the season.

Near the end of the period, with Timothy Liljegren in the box for delay of game, the Rocket had a perfect opportunity to net an equalizer before intermission.  Instead, after Rafael Harvey-Pinard turned the puck over, Kalle Kossila centered the puck through traffic to Joey Anderson who put it in the back of the net for a shorthanded goal.

Third Period

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲  Jesse Ylonen, Joseph Blandisi, Otto Leskinen

▼  Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jake Lucchini