Rocket Lineup

Anthony Richard – Peter Abbandonato – Joel Teasdale

Xavier Simoneau – Brandon Gignac – Gabriel Bourque

Lucas Condotta – Mitchell Stephens – Nate Schnarr

Riley McKay – John Parker-Jones – Nicolas Beaudin (seventh defenseman)

William Trudeau – Corey Schueneman

Mattias Norlinder – Tory Dello

Olivier Galipeau – Madison Bowey

Cayden Primeau – Philippe Desrosiers

Rafael Harvey-Pinard (emergency NHL recall), Rem Pitlick (emergency NHL recall), Eric Williams, Mattias Norlinder (illness), Jesse Ylonen (emergency NHL recall), Alex Belzile (emergency NHL recall), Jan Mysak

Gianni Fairbrother (knee), Danick Martel (DTD), Otto Leskinen, Kevin Poulin

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G  

The Laval Rocket hosted the Utica Comets at Place Bell on Saturday. Both teams are coming off wins on Friday with Laval defeating the Syracuse Crunch 3-1, while Utica blanked the Hershey Comets 3-0.

Jean-Francois Houle made one change to the lineup. John Parker-Jones slotted back after being scratched in three of the last four games. Jan Mysak was sidelined for the contest after returning from injury on Friday for the first time since Dec. 3rd. Cayden Primeau got the start in goal after making 39 saves in a good performance versus Syracuse.

First Period

Utica came out firing to the start the match outshooting Laval 4-0 in the first two minutes and hitting the right post in the first minute.

The Comets got on the board 3:45 into the contest when Joe Gambardella broke free from Anthony Richard‘s coverage and accepted Andreas Johnsson‘s pass to score.

It was a heated affair between the rivals that generated several scrums after the whistle. Parker-Jones was the first player to head into the penalty box, but his teammates did a good job shutting down Utica’s power play.

The minor penalty was the beginning of a stretch of 6:07 where Laval outshot Utica 9-0. During that stretch, Olivier Galipeau hit the post after redirecting Mitchell Stephens‘ shot from the blue line.

With 2:15 remaining in the period, Riley McKay and Nikita Okhotiuk dropped the gloves during a post-whistle scrum. It was a long fight that included both players getting up after falling on the ice. In addition to the five minute major, they each received a 10-minute misconduct for continuing the altercation.

Second Period

The Comets got into penalty trouble early in the period and goalie Nico Daws made key saves to prevent the Rocket from scoring. First, Lucas Condotta‘s shot was trickling on the red line when Daws swatted the puck away with his stick and moments later robbed Nicolas Beaudin with a glove save.

Condotta was serving a hooking penalty when Laval got on the board with two shorthanded goals. It started with Brandon Gignac going around Simon Nemec with a between the legs deke before beating Daws with a backhander.

Eight seconds later, Richard found Nate Schnarr in the slot for a one-timer that found itself in the back of the net.

The Rocket added to their lead on their next power play when William Trudeau set up Joel Teasdale for a one-timer shot from the faceoff circle to the left of Daws. Teasdale’s goal was his sixth in the last six games.

Just over three minutes later, Utica cut the deficit to one goal when Nolan Foote redirected Graeme Clarke‘s pass behind Primeau.

Third Period

Laval received an early power play opportunity to start the period and they took advantage of it. The sequence began when Foote hit the posy to the right of Primeau and on the counterattack Stephens bounced on a rebound in the blue paint for the goal.

Schnarr was in the box serving a goalie interference minor when Stephens beat Daws between the legs for Laval’s third shorthanded goal of the game. It was the first time that a team has scored three shorthanded goals in a game since Dec. 1st 2019.

With 5:51 remaining, Xavier Simoneau set up Gignac for a breakaway. The forward beat Daws between the pads for his second of the contest.

What’s Next?

Laval has won all four games against Utica this season. The Rocket have obtained at least one point in their last 12 games at Place Bell.

The team packs their bags for the next five games beginning against the Belleville Senators on Friday night.

Be sure to scroll down for audio clips from tonight’s post-game media interviews with Stephens, Gignac, Schnarr, Trudeau, McKay, and Houle, conducted by the AHL Report and other members of the press.

Plus / Minus

▲ Cayden Primeau, Joel Teasdale, Mitchell Stephens, Brandon Gignac, William Trudeau

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