Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Ryan Poehling – Cole Caufield

Laurent Dauphin – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen

Danick Martel – Brendan Gignac – Gabriel Bourque

Brandon Baddock – Alexandre Fortin – Kevin Roy

Gianni Fairbrother – Xavier Ouellet

Corey Schueneman – Louie Belpedio

Mattias Norlinder – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Carl Neill, Lukas Vejdemo, Terrance Amorosa

Joel Teasdale (surgery), Josh Brook (surgery), Tory Dello (DTD), Jean-Christophe Beaudin (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

Laval hit the road for another short two-game trip this weekend, kicking things off with a visit to Syracuse. Both the Rocket and the Crunch entered the game with a 4-3-1 record on the season,

This would be the first game Laval played in a week, after a disappointing overtime loss to the Rochester Americans last Saturday. However the roster looked a little different on this night, with Michael Pezzetta and Alex Belzile both recalled to Montreal, Cole Caufield back in the lineup after being sent down by the Canadiens, and Mattias Norlinder playing his first AHL game on a conditioning stint.

First Period

The opening frame was not a strong one for the Rocket, getting outshot by the home team 9-4. Caufield’s first shift of the game was a bit jarring as he stepped on the ice and was accidentally mowed down by his captain, Xavier Ouellet. A few minutes later, while battling for the puck behind the net, Daniel Walcott came in and elbowed the rookie forward out of the way.

Laval also continued their habit of being undisciplined and found themselves in the penalty box twice in the first period. Syracuse capitalized on the man advantage at their first opportunity, with Tristin Langan banging home a rebound with just 12 seconds left on the power play.

Second Period

Shots improved greatly for the visiting team in the middle frame, but not the numbers on the scoreboard. Laval managed to kill off an early Jesse Ylonen holding penalty, but couldn’t convert any of the three power play opportunities they were presented throughout the rest of the period.

Syracuse, on the other hand, made quick work of things when they scored back-to-back goals just 20 seconds apart. First it was former Canadiens prospect and Laval Rocket forward Charles Hudon springing Walcott for a partial breakaway to beat Cayden Primeau.

In the blink of an eye, Cole Koepke had the puck on his stick in the far circle and fired it cleanly past the Laval netminder to put the Crunch up 3-0.

Third Period

Despite starting the third period on the power play, Laval’s struggles on the man advantage continued and they weren’t able to find the back of the net. Coming into this game, the Rocket were 20th in the league on the power play, with only a 16.7% success rate.

Tight gameplay didn’t allow for a lot of open ice at either end of the rink, and both teams struggled to put up any meaningful offensive zone pressure through the first half of the period.

The pace picked up a bit in the last 10 minutes of the game, but didn’t result in much of anything except for two more Crunch penalties that the Rocket didn’t score a power play goal on.

Jean-Francois Houle pulled Primeau for an extra attacker with just under five minutes left in the game, but even that decision didn’t move the needle for his bench. Instead, Gabriel Dumont fought his way through traffic to score an empty-netter and put this game away for good.

What’s Next?

Overall, Norlinder and Caufield both played decent games although it’s tough to truly assess their play when the entire team was struggling. Caufield had a couple of prime scoring chances and seemed to be positioned well on the line with Ryan Poehling and Rafael Harvey-Pinard. Norlinder also looked comfortable in his assignment and wasn’t afraid to shoot the puck when he had the opportunity.

The Rocket take a 60-minute drive east to Utica, NY where they’ll play the undefeated Comets for the first time since becoming an affiliate of the New Jersey Devils.

Plus / Minus

▲ Corey Schueneman, Mattias Norlinder, Cole Caufield

▼ Brendan Gignac, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Brandon Baddock