Rocket Lineup

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

Joel Teasdale – Peter Abbandonato – Gabriel Bourque

Alexandre Fortin – Danick Martel – Shawn St. Amant

Devante Smith-Pelly – Cam Hillis – Mathew Santos

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Sami Niku – Tory Dello

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Josh Brook

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Louis-Philip Guindon, Kevin Poulin, Kevin Roy, Terrance Amorosa, Justin Ducharme, Cedric Desruisseaux

Brandon Gignac (upper-body injury), Lukas Vejdemo (upper-body injury), Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Gianni Fairbrother (upper-body injury), Jean-Christophe Beaudin (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

With the Rocket entering a period on the schedule where they’ll be playing almost every other day for a stretch, Jean-Francois Houle noted on Monday after the Rocket’s 6-2 loss to the Toronto Marlies that sometimes games like are bound to happen and that the team needs to get back to getting a good start right out of the gate.

He also mentioned that it would be good for the team to have another crack at the Marlies right away, as the two teams would face off in Toronto once again Wednesday night.

Josh Brook was the next player to return to the lineup off the Rocket COVID list, and Cayden Primeau was given the start in net. He replaced Michael McNiven to begin the second period on Monday afternoon.

First Period

Houle has preached countless times the importance of getting a good start, and tonight the Rocket looked much more ready to play from the opening faceoff. It took them about five minutes to get their first shot on goal, however, but they made it count.

Facing Joseph Woll in the Toronto net, back for his first start in five weeks due to an injry, Sami Niku blasted a shot from the point. The puck hit Rafael Harvey-Pinard but deflected right to Tory Dello who made no mistake on his shot.

After that, the shots seemed to come quickly and often at both ends of the ice. Kyle Clifford finally tied things up for Toronto when he got loose for a breakaway and, despite Tobie Paquette-Bisson trying to chase him down, was able to wrist the puck past Primeau.

Two minutes later, Harvey-Pinard took a clean cross-ice pass from Jean-Sebastien Dea and gave the Rocket the lead once again. But before they could really finish celebrating, Toronto had scored another equalizer just 20 seconds later. This time it was Jack Kopacka, left all alone in the left circle, who rifled the puck past Primeau off of a big rebound from the goaltender’s left pad.

But the scoring wasn’t done there for the first period: Xavier Ouellet laid a heavy one-timer from the point that bounced off of Danick Martel a Toronto player and into the net. Laval led 3-2 going into the first intermission.

Second Period

The Rocket continued to play with a strong forecheck in the second period, and maintained steady pressure in the offensive zone.

Neither team was able to get a puck into the back of their opponent’s net during this 20 minutes of play. Laval’s power play struggled, as they had three man-advantage opportunities through 40 minutes of play but no power play goals to show for it.

Third Period

Things went awry for the Rocket early in the third after Brook took an early interference penalty. The Marlies were able to tie the game for a third time when Laval’s penalty killers had all collapsed into the slot, leaving the Toronto forward all alone in the circle.

The Rocket found a way to retake the lead moment later. This time it was Alexandre Fortin on a breakaway, putting the puck five-hole through Woll. But the Marlies still wouldn’t back down and Mac Hollowell fired a sharp-angled shot from the perimeter at the net that deflected off of a Rocket player and into the net to tie the game yet again.

The battle of who would be the last to take the lead in this back-and-forth game continued as Joel Teasdale tallied a goal off a big one-timer from the slot with just under three minutes left in the game. Harvey-Pinard got the insurance goal with an empty netter in the final minute, his second goal of the night and third point.

What’s Next?

The Rocket now return to Quebec where they’ll have one day to regroup before starting a seven-game homestand which they’ll play over the course of just 11 days.

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

Plus / Minus

▲ Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jean-Sebastien Dea, Tory Dello

▼ Josh Brook, Cayden Primeau