FINAL | North Division Final – Game 1 | Sunday, May 22, 2022

Laval leads series 1-0

Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen

Brandon Gignac – Cedric Paquette – Alex Belzile

Gabriel Bourque – Peter Abbandonato – Danick Martel

Nate Schnarr – Mattias Norlinder (7th defenseman) – Joel Teasdale

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Corey Schueneman – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Sami Niku – Tory Dello

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Olivier Galipeau, Terrance Amorosa, Nicolas Mattinen, Owen Savory, Cameron Hillis, Gabriel Mollott-Hill, Lucas Condotta, Kevin Roy, Alexandre Fortin, Justin Ducharme, Max Kaufman

Gianni Fairbrother (undisclosed), Lukas Vejdemo (lower body)

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Laval Rocket began the North Division Final in front of a sold out Place Bell crowd. Laval moved on to the third round after defeating the Syracuse Crunch in five games. Sunday’s opponents, the Rochester Americans, advanced after eliminating the Utica Comets in five games. 

The eight regular season matchups between the division rivals were evenly split. Forwards Jean-Sebastien Dea, and Rafael Harvey-Pinard led the team with 11 points each against Rochester. 

Jean-Francois Houle continued icing a formation of 11 forwards and seven defencemen. Nate Schnarr returned to the lineup after missing the previous game with an injury. 

Cayden Primeau got the start in between the pipes. The 22-year old entered the day ranked fourth in the AHL playoffs for goals-against-average and save percentage. 

First Period

Primeau stole the show in the first period as he was forced to make several big saves. It began at 1:35 against J.J. Peterka on a breakaway. Later in the period, Primeau made a pad save against Peyton Krebs, before he went on a wraparound that was stopped by a diving Xavier Ouellet.  

Rochester dominated the first period, and they were rewarded with a goal at 16:41 when Peterka beat Primeau blocker side with a top corner wrist shot. 

With 1:38 remaining, Brandon Gignac’s shot from the blue line was tipped by Danick Martel, and beat Aaron Dell. The call was originally called as no-goal by the official on ice, but after review, the decision was reversed.

Second Period

The direction of the game tilted in Laval’s favour in the second period. At 5:12, Martel picked up his own rebound and scored as Dell was out of position. 

At 8:26, Rafael Harvey-Pinard easily deked Mark Alt and fed Cedric Paquette for a one-timer goal to increase Laval’s lead to two goals. 

At 11:23, Martel beat Dell glove side to complete his hat trick. As the Place Bell fans tossed their caps on the ice, Michael Houser replaced Dell in goal. 

The Rocket were called for three consecutive minor penalties in the period. Fortunately for them, the shorthanded units killed all of them, allowing Rochester to register six total shots with the man advantage. 

Laval was unsuccessful in their only power play opportunity, as former Canadien Brandon Davidson served an interference minor. 

Third Period

It was Rochester’s turn to be undisciplined in the third period, taking a total of six minor penalties. 

Laval capitalized at 6:49 when Davidson was in the box again and Sami Niku found Martel for a one-timer goal from the faceoff circle. Martel became the first player to score four goals in a single game in the Calder Cup Playoffs since 2013. 

Nate Schnarr added insult to injury with a shot from the point that beat Houser for his first goal of the postseason. 

Frustration level raised for Rochester and it led to Ben Holmstrom delivering a headshot with his elbow to Mattias Norlinder in the final seconds of the match.

What’s Next?

Laval’s 6-1 victory allows them to take the early advantage in the five-game series. The Rocket will look at having a short memory, and focus on the next game. In their second-round series against the Comets, Rochester lost the first game 6-3 in Utica before bouncing back to win the series.

After the game, Houle said that Norlinder will be evaluated by the team’s doctors before his status is determined for game two.  

Rochester will try to tie the series on Monday at 7:00pm eastern at Place Bell. 

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Primeau, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Martel and Houle by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.

Plus / Minus

▲ Cayden Primeau, Sami Niku, Danick Martel, Mattias Norlinder, Xavier Ouellet

▼ Jesse Ylonen, Brandon Gignac