Rocket Lineup

Danick Martel – Laurent Dauphin – Cole Caufield

Gabriel Bourque – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Lukas Vejdemo – Kevin Roy

Brandon Baddock – Brendan Gignac – Cam Hillis

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Gianni Fairbrother – Tory Dello

Corey Schueneman – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Michael McNiven – Kevin Poulin

Carl Neill, Alexandre Fortin

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

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

The Laval Rocket were back on the road Wednesday night, looking for redemption after a disappointing loss to the undefeated Utica Comets on Saturday afternoon.

They found themselves in Toronto at Coca-Cola Coliseum to take on their rivals, the Marlies. The last time the two teams met, the Rocket posted a 5-0 shutout against Toronto while both teams combined for 211 penalty minutes.

Michael McNiven got the start in goal on this night, with Kevin Poulin backing him up. Poulin was recently recalled from the Trois-Rivieres Lions (ECHL) after the Montreal Canadiens needed to call Cayden Primeau up to the NHL while Jake Allen is out with a concussion. The game also marked 100 AHL appearances for Corey Schueneman, and 300 games for Danick Martel.

First Period

The Rocket had plenty of jump to start the period, leading the Marlies 5-0 in shots through the opening five minutes. Cole Caufield had two quality shots early, but Erik Kallgren was up to the task.

Toronto didn’t wait too long to surge back, and during scramble in front of the net, with  McNiven down to make a save, Brett Seney tapped in the loose puck to give the home team an early 1-0 lead.

Laval’s defense continued to struggle as Toronto piled on the pressure. A few minutes later, during another net-front scramble, the defense looked mostly lethargic when McNiven’s stick was knocked from his hand. Without defenders to clear the puck out of the zone, the Rocket netminder was unable to retrieve his equipment and Josh Ho-Sang took full advantage to put the Marlies up 2-0.

Despite the pushback from Toronto, the Rocket continue to press. Rafael Harvey-Pinard pulled his team within one when he found a loose puck in the Marlies’ crease while Kallgren was out of position and put it across the goal line.

Second Period

To say the middle frame was ugly would be an understatement. It began with Kevin Roy making contact with Kallgren, who needed to be helped off the ice and down the tunnel. Michael Hutchinson entered the game in relief.

But that wasn’t the only goaltender change in the period. Toronto put up three more goals in this frame, the latter two coming just 42 seconds apart. Both goals were tapped over the goal line from behind McNiven. At that point, Jean-Francois Houle pulled his starter, replacing him with Poulin.

The Marlies’ first goal of the period, the second of the night for Seney, came just under seven minutes in when Marc Michaelis dished the puck in front from below the goal line and Seney was in tight to finish the play.

Next, Toronto rung a shot off the post which caused the puck to drop behind McNiven, where Joey Anderson got his stick on it first. Seconds later, a shot trickled through McNiven’s legs and Semyon Der-Arguchintsev picked it up from behind the netminder.

Gabriel Bourque was able to settle things down a bit before the second intermission when he doubled his team’s score in a net-front scramble.

Third Period

In a complete turnaround from the second period, Laval put on a highlight-reel performance in the third. First came a power play goal by Louie Belpedio, a wrister from circle. Then Lukas Vejdemo created a turnover while the Rocket were on the penalty kill and he fired a puck past Hutchinson to bring Laval within one.

Finally, it was Cole Caufield who tied the game with a burst of speed through the neutral zone and a wicked shot in stride, while the teams were playing four-on-four hockey.

The overtime period was full of activity, with both teams generating a lot of speed and a lot of scoring chances. Both Poulin and Hutchinson kept their teams alive, however, and a shootout was needed.

After Caufield and Ho-Sang each found the back of the net in the first two rounds, the goaltenders shored up their nets. It took nine rounds before a winner was decided: Harvey-Pinard completed Laval’s comeback.

What’s Next?

Caufield’s goals will draw a lot of attention from fans and media; this was by far his best performance since coming down to Laval. He also boasted a team-high nine shots on goal in this game. However, the young forward ended the night minus-1, taking him to minus-6 on the season in the AHL.

Gianni Fairbrother and Danick Martel both left the game after the first period. No updates on their condition for now.

After a rousing win in Toronto, the Rocket have three days until their next game when they visit Belleville for another division rivalry matchup with the Senators.

Plus / Minus

▲ Cole Caufield, Louie Belpedio, Lukas Vejdemo

▼ Xavier Ouellet, Tory Dello, Brendan Gignac