Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Brandon Gignac – Jesse Ylonen

Anthony Richard – Xavier Simoneau – Rem Pitlick

Gabriel Bourque – Peter Abbandonato – Alex Belzile

Joel Teasdale – Lucas Condotta – Danick Martel

Corey Schueneman – Justin Barron

Mattias Norlinder – Madison Bowey

Otto Leskinen – Tory Dello

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Nicolas Beaudin, Jan Mysak, Mitchell Stephens, Alex Green

Gianni Fairbrother (knee), William Trudeau (lower-body, out indefinitely), Nate Schnarr (lower-body, out indefinitely)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

After suffering more than their fair share of losses over the past three weeks, the Laval Rocket finally came away with a victory on Friday night when they beat the Utica Comets 5-4 in overtime. The game marked their third consecutive matchup requiring extra minutes, and the victory was just the third for the team this season.

The Rocket tonight traveled to Allentown, PA where they were set to take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Last Saturday, the Phantoms downed Laval in overtime to set up what could be an entertaining rematch a week later.

Few changes were made to the Laval lineup on this night: Jan Mysak was made a healthy scratch in favor of Joel Teasdale, and Cayden Primeau got the start in net after serving backup duty the night before.

First Period

It only took about four minutes for the Phantoms to put Laval in their rearview mirror when Ronnie Attard ripped a shot that went bar down and into Primeau’s net.

Danick Martel tried to even the score on his former team when he got a shot off in close to Samuel Ersson, but the Lehigh Valley goaltender blockered it aside. In the process, Martel was slashed by Jordy Bellerive and the Rocket got their first power play opportunity of the night.

The man-advantage only last 45 seconds, however, as Rem Pitlick was found guilty of hooking and put the teams at four-on-four hockey for more than a minute. Despite Laval killing off the penalty, they found themselves shorthanded almost immediately once again when Alex Belzile took an interference penalty.

Both teams managed to play pretty tight hockey for the remainder of the period, until late in the frame Teasdale made contact with Ersson in the crease and the Lehigh Valley goaltender took exception. A crowd gathered, and Martel and Bellerive ended up with concurring roughing penalties when all was said and done.

Shortly into the four-on-four action, Pitlick took his second penalty of the period to put Laval down two men to end the period.

Second Period

Much of the puck control to start the second period belonged to the Rocket, but Ersson stood tall throughout each of their barrages to keep Laval off the scoreboard. The visitors even enjoyed an early power play, but that’s when things went sideways. A bad change by the Rocket gave Elliot Desnoyers a perfect opportunity to get open in Laval’s zone and quickly found the back of the net for a shorthanded goal.

Penalties continued to rack up for the Rocket, making it very difficult for the team to generate any kind of sustained pressure or find the necessary rhythm to start making inroads in the game.

The Rocket vastly outshot the Phantoms in this frame, 14-9, but just couldn’t capitalize on the opportunities that came their way. Lehigh Valley had a strong shift to end the period, absolutely buzzing in the Laval zone, but they weren’t able to extend their lead any further.

Third Period

Things vastly opened up for Laval in the final frame, as Justin Barron got his team on the board on a point shot. The power play goal brought the Rocket to within a goal of the Phantoms.

About five minutes later, on another Rocket power play, Jesse Ylonen buried the equalizer as the ice began to distinctly tilt in Laval’s favor.

But a minute and a half later, Cam York took advantage of a big rebound and a screen in front of Primeau to give Lehigh Valley another one-goal lead. It would prove to be the second Saturday in a row that he scored the game-winner against the Rocket.

Laval tried to find another tying goal, and had some great opportunities to do so as the Phantoms took a late penalty. Primeau was pulled for a six-on-four advantage, but Ersson continued to defend the net quite well and kept the crease shut for the remainder of the game.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲ Justin Barron, Jesse Ylonen, Xavier Simoneau

▼ Lucas Condotta, Joel Teasdale, Rafael Harvey-Pinard