Rocket Lineup

Anthony Richard – Mitchell Stephens – Jesse Ylonen

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Brandon Gignac – Rem Pitlick

Xavier Simoneau – Peter Abbandonato – Gabriel Bourque

Lucas Condotta – Jan Mysak – Joel Teasdale

Mattias Norlinder – Justin Barron

Corey Schueneman – Madison Bowey

Nicolas Beaudin – Otto Leskinen

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Danick Martel, Tory Dello, Alex Belzile, Nate Schnarr, Alex Green

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

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Laval Rocket continued their four-game homestand on Friday by hosting the Cleveland Monsters. Laval is coming off a 4-2 win against the Abbotsford Canucks on Wednesday, while Cleveland lost 8-7 against the Belleville Senators on the same night.

Jean-Francois Houle made some changes to the lineup despite the victory. Up front, Rem Pitlick slotted back in after being assigned from the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the day. Danick Martel watched the game from the press box.

On defence, Nicolas Beaudin dressed for the match in the place of Tory Dello.

In goal, Cayden Primeau got the start for a second consecutive game. Primeau made 41 saves in a solid performance against the Canucks.

First Period

It took 4:49 of action before the first shot on goal of the game was taken. Cleveland needed 8:26 before registering their first shot on goal. During that time frame, Peter Abbandonato obtained a good chance after accepting a pass from Gabriel Bourque, but Abbandonato’s shot hit the side of the net.

After Wednesday’s game, Houle was not happy with the team’s indiscipline. Nicolas Beaudin was in the box and the Monsters jumped all over the opportunity.

David Jiricek completed a one timer from a cross ice pass received from Trey Fix-Wolansky to open the scoring.

Laval had several scoring chances during the period, including Joel Teasdale and Rafael Harvey-Pinard on odd-man rushes. Both players decided to shoot on their respective unsuccessful opportunities.

Second Period

Laval got their first power play chance early in the second period and they didn’t let it go to waste. Xavier Simoneau made a cross ice pass to Pitlick and the puck ended its trajectory at the back of the net on the one-timer. Pitlick’s goal was his first in a Rocket uniform and his fourth point in four games.

Primeau was tested by Cleveland and he came out with solid saves. First, after Beaudin turned the puck over, Primeau made a nice cross ice slide to stop forward Cole Fonstad.

A few minutes later, Primeau made a spectacular pad save on Carson Meyer who was alone in the crease.

At the other end of the ice, Pavel Cajan made another key stop on an odd man rush stopping consecutive shots by Mitchell Stephens.

The Monsters took a lead with 4:38 remaining when Justin Richards was wide open in front of the crease and he just had to tap in the pass received from Meyer.

Laval’s indiscipline continued as both Beaudin and Jesse Ylonen took consecutive penalties before the intermission.

Third Period

On the opening shift, the Monsters capitalized on Ylonen’s penalty that carried over as Trey Fix-Wolansky beat Primeau blocker side.

Laval got the goal back 38 seconds later, as Stephens scored his first in a Rocket uniform with a glove side goal on a breakaway.

The Rocket’s penalties continued to be costly. It took Cleveland 19 seconds after Beaudin sat in the box for the third time to score his second of the match.

Peter Abbandonato kept the game close by completing a one-timer after receiving a pass by Anthony Richard. The assist was Richard’s eighth point in last six games.

Cleveland added two more power play goals as Richard was in the box for kneeing and Jan Mysak served a bench minor.

Roman Ahcan caught Primeau out of position to score the Monster’s seventh goal of the night.

What’s Next?

Houle gave notice following the game against Canucks that players will be held accountable for bad penalties. Beaudin was the first player that paid the price as the defenceman did not get another shift after his third minor.

Laval had no answers to Cleveland’s power play allowing the Monsters score five times with the man advantage in the 7-3 loss.

The division rivals face off again on Saturday at 3:00pm Eastern time.

Be sure to scroll down for audio clips from tonight’s post-game media interviews with Corey Schueneman, Peter Abbandonato, Rem Pitlick and Jean-Francois Houle, conducted by the AHL Report and other members of the press.

Plus / Minus

▲ Mitchell Stephens, Rem Pitlick

▼ Corey Schueneman, Madison Bowey, Nicolas Beaudin, Gabriel Bourque, Mattias Norlinder, Brandon Gignac, Justin Barron