Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Kevin Roy

Danick Martel – Cedric Paquette – Jesse Ylonen

Gabriel Bourque – Brandon Gignac – Joel Teasdale

Justin Ducharme – Peter Abbandonato – Jean-Christophe Beaudin

Xavier Ouellet – Terrance Amorosa

Sami Niku – Tory Dello

Darien Kielb – Olivier Galipeau

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Louis-Philip Guindon, Devante Smith-Pelly, Alexandre Fortin

Lukas Vejdemo (upper-body injury), Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Tobie Paquette-Bisson (undisclosed), Gianni Fairbrother (undisclosed), Josh Brook (lower-body injury), Louie Belpedio, Cameron Hillis

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

Laval began a five-game homestand on Friday with a matchup against the Hartford Wolf Pack. The Rocket’s 6-2 loss against the Penguins on Saturday was their third loss in the last four games. Hartford arrived to Laval on a three-game losing streak. 

Cedric Paquette made his Rocket debut after joining the team on Monday. Paquette was scratched from the Canadiens lineup since January 29th. His last game in the AHL was on Nov. 1st, 2014 with the Syracuse Crunch. 

On defence, Louie Belpedio was not dressed for the game due to injury. Tory Dello returned to action after missing the last two contests due to an illness. 

Cayden Primeau got the start for the first time since being returned to the AHL by the Canadiens. Primeau’s last start in Laval’s uniform was on Mar. 2nd when he made 26 saves in a 4-2 loss against the Cleveland Monsters. 

First Period

Former Canadiens goalie Keith Kinkaid was called for tripping when Laval opened the scoring. Jean-Sebastien Dea scored with a slap shot from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Kinkaid blocker side. 

Zac Jones tied the score during a delayed penalty call by beating Primeau with a wrist shot from the faceoff dot. 

On an odd-man rush with 11:06 remaining, Joel Teasdale jumped on the rebound from Brandon Gignac to give Laval the lead again. 

The Wolf Pack took advantage of Justin Ducharme’s tripping penalty to tie up the game. Ty Ronning scored on a one-timer during the power play. 

It took 56 seconds for Laval to recapture the lead as Rafael Harvey-Pinard capitalized on a rebound to score. Harvey-Pinard has recorded four goals in the last five games. The goal ended Kinkaid’s night after allowing three goals on five shots. 

Hartford made Laval pay a price during Gignac’s penalty, as Anthony Greco redirected the point shot from the slot to tie the game 3-3 through 20 minutes. 

Second Period

Laval separated themselves in the second period by scoring three times. First, Harvey-Pinard found Kevin Roy open on the side of the net, and Roy just tapped the puck in during the second minute. The assist was Harvey-Pinard’s third point of the night. 

At the 8:47 mark, from behind the net Gabriel Bourque found Teasdale in the slot for his second goal of the night. 

Teasdale recorded his third point of the contest with 4:55 remaining, when he circled around the opposition’s net and passed the puck to Gignac for the goal. Sami Niku ended a six-game pointless drought with an assist on the play.

Hartford took seven shots in the second period and had two solid chances in the final moments of the period when they hit the post twice on the same sequence. 

Third Period

Laval increased the lead to four goals during the eighth minute when Niku from deep in the offensive zone found Teasdale in the slot. Teasdale buried the puck at the back of the net with a one-timer to complete the hat trick. Dozens of hats were thrown on the ice by the Place Bell fans to celebrate the accomplishment. Gignac collected his fourth point of the match with an assist on the play. 

With 5:45 remaining, former Canadiens prospect Jarred Tinordi set up Tanner Fritz for a wrist shot from the slot. Alex Whelan’s hooking penalty against Dea with 4:23 remaining changed the momentum, and led to Laval confirming the win. 

What’s Next?

Laval’s 7-4 victory snapped the team’s two-game losing streak. The Hershey Bears visit Place Bell on Saturday at 3:00pm eastern. 

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Paquette, Teasdale, Gignac and Houle by the AHL Report team and other members of the media. 

Plus / Minus

▲ Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Sami Niku, Gabriel Bourque, Joel Teasdale, Brandon Gignac, Darien Kielb

▼ Jean-Christophe Beaudin, Justin Ducharme, Peter Abbandonato