Rocket Lineup

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

Justin Ducharme – Danick Martel – Kevin Roy

Alexandre Fortin – Peter Abbandonato – Gabriel Bourque

Joel Teasdale – Cameron Hillis – Shawn St. Amant

Xavier Ouellet – Tory Dello

Sami Niku – Louie Belpedio

Terrance Amorosa – Olivier Galipeau

Kevin Poulin – Tristan Berube

Jean-Christophe Beaudin, Brandon Gignac

Lukas Vejdemo (upper-body injury), Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Tobie Paquette-Bisson (DTD), Gianni Fairbrother (DTD), Josh Brook (DTD), Devante Smith-Pelly (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Rocket hosted the Canucks for the second time in two days at Place Bell. On Friday, Abbotsford scored three times in the second period to hand Laval a 4-2 loss. With their third loss in the last four games, Laval dropped to fourth place in the North division. 

Devante Smith-Pelly, Gianni Fairbrother, and Brandon Gignac suffered injuries on Friday. With no defensemen available, Laval signed Olivier Galipeau from the Trois-Rivieres Lions to a PTO for the second time this season. In his first stint with the Rocket, Galipeau collected one assist in two games. 

Up front, Cameron Hillis and Justin Ducharme returned to the lineup. Hillis was scratched on Friday, while Ducharme sat out the last nine games. 

Kevin Poulin got the start in goal for the second consecutive game, after making 30 saves in Friday’s loss. 

First Period

Laval showed no sign of fatigue at puck drop, and dominated the first period. The Rocket’s struggling power play had two opportunities to redeem itself. On the first man advantage, the second unit spent the majority of the time in the offensive zone, but was not able to get a puck behind Michael Dipietro.  

Laval converted on their second power play. Xavier Ouellet made a pass to Kevin Roy and he beat Dipietro with a top corner shot from the faceoff circle. The goal ended Roy’s drought of 17 games without lighting the lamp.

Abbotsford struggled to get behind Laval’s defence in the period. The Canucks took their first shot on goal after 12:24 of action, and were outshot 16-2 through 20 minutes. 

Second Period

The second period was to Laval’s advantage. Laval had another power play opportunity where they maintained possession in the offensive zone without scoring. 

It took Abbotsford 10:47 in the period to get their first shot on Poulin. The action was getting heated between the two Canadian teams as there was several scrums after the whistles as the frame progressed. 

The Rocket’s penalty kill unit was tested three times in the period, and escaped without any damage done.

After a slow start to the period, the Canucks started applying pressure and gained momentum heading into the locker room. 

Third Period

After killing off a bench minor for too many men on the ice, Abbotsford pressed in Laval’s zone, but the defence did a good job in preventing dangerous opportunities. 

Danick Martel had an opportunity to increase the lead when Alexandre Fortin found him open in the slot. Martel’s shot hit the post on the right side of Dipietro. 

The teams were playing four-on-four hockey when Jean-Sebastien Dea fed Jesse Ylonen during an odd-man rush for Laval’s second goal with 3:53 remaining. 

Dea sealed the victory an empty net goal with 1:35 remaining in regulation. 

What’s Next?

Laval had struggled to close games earlier in the week. The team’s defence kept Abbotsford to the outside for the majority of the game. The Rocket’s power play created momentum throughout the contest.   

Laval will have the day off on Sunday, and will return to action on Monday night against the Springfield Thunderbirds. 

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Dea, Ouellet, Roy, and Houle by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.  

Plus / Minus

▲ Jean-Sebastien Dea, Louie Belpedio, Xavier Ouellet, Kevin Roy, Rafael Harvey-Pinard

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