Rocket Lineup

Joel Teasdale – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Peter Abbandonato – Kevin Roy

Brandon Baddock – Jean-Christophe Beaudin – Gabriel Bourque

Justin Ducharme – Cam Hillis – Danick Martel

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Sami Niku – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Corey Schueneman – Tory Dello

Kevin Poulin – Louis-Philip Guindon

Terrance Amorosa, Devante Smith-Pelly, Carl Neill, Alexandre Fortin

Josh Brook (surgery), Brandon Gignac (upper-body injury), Lukas Vejdemo (DTD), Alex Belzile (DTD), Gianni Fairbrother (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

On Friday, the Rocket and Crunch squared off for the second time this week. Laval easily defeated Syracuse 6-2 on Wednesday at Place Bell. 

Jean-Sebastien Dea returned to the lineup after missing the last two matches with an injury. Alexandre Fortin was sidelined to make room for Dea. No changes on defence, despite Josh Brook having received the green light to return to play. 

Kevin Poulin got the start in goal. On Wednesday, he made 23 saves in Laval’s victory. 

First Period

Syracuse opened the scoring at the 14:19 mark when Gabriel Dumont netted his 18th of the season. Andrej Sustr saw the former Canadiens prospect escape Jesse Ylonen’s coverage in front of the net and fed him the puck. 

The Rocket obtained the most dangerous scoring chances in the first 20 minutes. Gabriel Bourque hit the post in the second minute of play, and Amir Miftakhov robbed Louie Belpedio with a blocker save with five minutes remaining. 

Laval had two power play opportunities, including a four-minute advantage that extended into the start of the second frame. 

Second Period

Both teams were held off the scoring summary in the second period. Laval and Syracuse combined for a total of 12 shots in the frame. 

Former Canadien forward Charles Hudon obtained the most dangerous opportunity as he easily beat Xavier Ouellet in a foot race, and led to a breakaway. Poulin made the stop to save his captain. 

On the other end, the Crunch did a good job defensively in the period to not allow the Rocket to take any shots from dangerous areas of the ice.

Third Period

The Rocket got on the board 5:10 into the third period when Brandon Baddock capitalized on the rebound from Tory Dello’s point shot. It was the first goal for the forward since November 27th. Dello nearly gave Laval the lead on his next shift when his shot hit the post. 

The Rocket’s penalty kill was tested in the second half of the period as Cameron Hills and Jean-Christophe Beaudin took back-to-back infractions. Laval’s penalty killers successfully prevented the visitors from taking the lead. 

In overtime, Beaudin forced Hudon to cause a turnover, and found Dea open in the neutral zone. Dea beat Miftakhov glove side on the breakaway to give Laval the win.   

What’s Next?

Laval extended their win streak at home to seven games. Poulin made several key saves during the match. Jean-Francois Houle was not happy with the power play units. 

Syracuse will be looking to avoid the three-game sweep versus Laval on Saturday at 3:00pm eastern time.

Be sure to scroll down to hear full audio of post-game interviews with Dea, Baddock, Dello, and Houle conducted by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.

Plus / Minus

▲ Kevin Poulin, Louie Belpedio, Tory Dello, Gabriel Bourque

▼ Joel Teasdale, Justin Ducharme