Rocket Lineup

Anthony Richard – Brandon Gignac – Lucas Condotta

Emil Heineman – Peter Abbandonato – Pierrick Dube

Gabriel Bourque – Mitchell Stephens – Joel Teasdale

Xavier Simoneau – Riley McKay – Jayden Struble (seventh defenseman)

Mattias Norlinder – Corey Schueneman

William Trudeau – Nicolas Beaudin

Olivier Galipeau – Tory Dello

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Danick Martel, Louis Boudon, Madison Bowey, John Parker-Jones, Jan Mysak, Nolan Yaremko, Frederic Allard

Gianni Fairbrother (knee), Otto Leskinen

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G 

The Laval Rocket ended a four-game homestand with a rare visit from the Milwaukee Admirals. The last time that Milwaukee came to Place Bell was on October 10th, 2019. Laval was coming off a 5-3 loss on Wednesday against the Bridgeport Islanders, while the Admirals were on a three-game winning streak.

Jean-Francois Houle inserted Jayden Struble into the lineup for his first game in the AHL. Struble joined Laval last Friday after completing his tenure with Northeastern University. Nicolas Beaudin returned to the lineup for the first time since being injured on March 15th. Frederic Allard and Nolan Yaremko were scratched to make room for the two defencemen.

Up front, Riley McKay returned to the lineup in the place of Jan Mysak.

Cayden Primeau started for the fifth consecutive contest after allowing five goals in Wednesday’s loss. Kevin Poulin returned with the team following an upper body injury that had him sidelined since March 1st. As a result, Philippe Desrosiers was assigned to the Trois-Rivières Lions earlier in the day.

First Period

Milwaukee opened the scoring during the sixth minute of action during a penalty against Xavier Simoneau. Zach Sanford made a cross ice pass to John Leonard and he beat Primeau with a one-timer.

Laval got on the board later in the period on a sequence that began with Struble and McKay delivering solid hits in the offensive zone. Brandon Gignac was behind the net when his backhander pass hit a couple of skates and ended up on Gabriel Bourque‘s stick in the crease. The forward made the most of the opportunity and made it 1-1.

About two minutes later, former Canadiens prospect Michael McCarron went looking for McKay and the two dropped the gloves. McCarron with the six-inches and 28 pound advantage easily won the fight.

Laval’s struggling power play got its first opportunity before the end of the period against Milwaukee’s league leading penalty kill. The Rocket were not able to get any shots during the minor.

Milwaukee ended the period with the man advantage and Primeau made three stops before the buzzer.

Second Period

Laval had another power play early on in the period. This time around, the Rocket were able to set up in the offensive zone and generated a couple of shots.

Midway through the period, Yaroslav Askarov gave up a generous rebound that hit Bourque’s hand before crossing the red line. The officials waived off the goal and upheld the decision after a long review of the sequence.

Momentum swung in Laval’s favour following the sequence as they buzzed in Milwaukee’s zone for several minutes and obtained quality chances that they did not convert.

With 1:14 remaining, Anthony Angello was left alone and the forward deked Primeau to break the tie.

Laval continued pressing in the final minute and it led to a penalty against Milwaukee that carried over to the third. Peter Abbandonato was robbed by Askarov in the final seconds.

Third Period

Laval got into penalty trouble in the third period with William Trudeau and Bourque heading to the box 20 seconds apart. The penalty kill units did a good job blocking shots, cutting the pass lanes with their sticks.

Bourque just left the penalty box when Joakim Kemell beat Primeau with a wrist shot through traffic to increase the lead to two goals.

The Rocket got their fourth power play midway through the period and took advantage to cut the lead to one goal when Pierrick Dube jumped on a rebound to beat Askarov.

Laval desperately looked to get the tying goal but Askarov was solid in goal to prevent the tying goal to go in.

What’s Next

Laval dominated Milwaukee in the final 40 minutes outshooting them 34-11 in that time frame. With the 3-2 loss, the Rocket are seventh place in the North division, one point out of a playoff spot.

Laval ended the four-game homestand with one win. They head on the road for the next four games beginning in Winnipeg on Sunday afternoon against the Manitoba Moose.

Be sure to scroll down for audio clips from tonight’s post-game media interviews with Bourque, Dube, Struble and Houle, conducted by the AHL Report and other members of the press.

Plus / Minus

▲ Emil Heineman, Pierrick Dube

▼ Gabriel Bourque, William Trudeau