Rocket Lineup

Gabriel Bourque – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Alexandre Fortin

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Lukas Vejdemo – Alex Belzile

Danick Martel – Brandon Gignac – Kevin Roy

Brandon Baddock – Peter Abbandonato – Jean-Christophe Beaudin

Terrance Amorosa – Louie Belpedio

Mattias Norlinder – Tory Dello

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Carl Neill

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Cam Hillis, Charles-David Beaudoin

Joel Teasdale (surgery), Josh Brook (surgery), Gianni Fairbrother (DTD), Xavier Ouellet (lower-body injury)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

The Laval Rocket returned home on Wednesday night for their second game of the season against the Manitoba Moose. The Rocket looked to continue the solid play they displayed on Sunday evening when they put up a dominant 5-1 victory in Toronto versus the Marlies.

This game marked the debut forward Peter Abbandonato, who was recalled to the Rocket from the Trois-Rivieres Lions not long after being named last week’s ECHL Player of the Week.

In addition, Mattias Norlinder returned to the lineup after being sent down to the AHL this week from Montreal. Norlinder has played three games this season with Laval when he was sent down for a conditioning stint.

Both teams had to contend with the last-minute loss of a key player. For Laval, it was forward Jesse Ylonen who was recalled by the Canadiens on Wednesday morning. The Winnipeg affiliate would be without the services of defenseman Ville Heinola, who was recalled to the Jets earlier in the day.

First Period

The opening 20 minutes of play was not much to write home about. Both teams exchanged a minor penalties, and neither was successful on the man advantage. Manitoba pressured hard early on, and kept Laval in the defensive zone for a good portion of the first half of the period.

But the Rocket started pouring on pressure of their own late in the frame, and Alex Belzile was rewarded when he went top shelf and put the puck past Mikhail Berdin with just 55 seconds left on the clock.

Second Period

Penalties, a consistent weakness for Laval this season, cropped up in the second period. Just over five minutes into the frame, Greg Meireles blasted the puck from the point and Jeff Malott was able to finish it with a tap in from the back door to tie the game with a power play goal.

Both teams alternated turns in the penalty box, including some four-on-four hockey after Belzile took a slashing penalty during a Laval power play, but it was the Rocket who were the next to convert on the man advantage.

Norlinder, playing a prominant role on the first power play unit, had been active and aggressive on the puck all night. It finally paid off just a few minutes before intermission when he fired a shot from the point that made its way through traffic and into the Moose net.

Third Period

Discipline came back into play in the third period, with neither team spending any time in the penalty box. Instead, Manitoba went back to applying offensive pressure on Laval, putting 18 shots on goal in the frame. 

The Rocket extended their lead just over five minutes into the period when Brandon Gignac skated hard up ice on a breakaway and fed the puck cross-ice to Kevin Roy. Roy was also driving hard to the net and managed to get a sharp-angled shot off that found the back of the net.

With Berdin pulled for an extra attacker, the Moose made things interesting in the final minutes when they pulled within a goal of the Rocket thanks to a David Gustafsson tally. Laval missed at least three different empty-net attempts, and iced the puck on each occasion, but the work they had put in already would be enough to win the game. Cayden Primeau performed well in his fourth consecutive start, stopping 39 of 41 shots against.

What’s Next?

The Rocket now head back out on the road for a two-game trip to the United States. They’ll visit the Rochester Americans on Friday night before heading to Hershey for a bout with the Bears on Sunday evening.

Be sure to scroll down to hear audio from post-game interviews with Norlinder, Gignac, Roy, and Houle from the AHL Report team and other members of the media.

Plus / Minus

▲ Mattias Norlinder, Brandon Gignac, Cayden Primeau

▼ Brandon Baddock, Alexandre Fortin