Rocket Lineup

Charles Hudon – Jake Evans – Riley Barber

Yannick Veilleux – Michael McCarron – Joe Cox

Alexandre Alain – Kevin Lynch – Ralph Cuddemi

Michael Pezzetta – Nikita Jevpalovs – Garrett Mitchell

Gustav Olofsson – Xavier Ouellet

Otto Leskinen – Evan McEneny

Karl Alzner – Josh Brook

Keith Kinkaid – Cayden Primeau

James Phelan, Hayden Verbeek, Antoine Waked, Maxim Lamarche, William Pelletier, Michael McNiven

Phil Varone (wrist), Noah Juulsen (upper body), Alex Belzile (pectoral surgery), Andrew Sturtz

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Rocket hosted the Crunch on Saturday at Place Bell for the third game of the season between the two teams, with each team having won one game. Laval won their third consecutive game on Friday with a 4-0 win against Lehigh Valley, while Syracuse snapped a three-game losing streak by beating Toronto 8-2. 

Keith Kinkaid got the start in goal for Laval. In his last start, he made 27 saves in a win against the Senators. No other changes were made to the lineup by Joel Bouchard. Former Canadiens prospect Zach Fucale got his first AHL start of the season for Syracuse. 

It didn’t show that Syracuse traveled overnight to Laval, as they dominated the first period, controlling the play in the Rocket’s zone, and outshooting them 10-1. Kinkaid made several key saves to keep the Crunch off the board in the first period. 

The Rocket were efficient with their shots in the period, as they scored on their first and only shot of the first 20 minutes. On a power play, with 4:08 remaining, Michael McCarron won a faceoff that Xavier Ouellet barely kept onside and took a point shot to beat Fucale. The Crunch defenders stopped playing and coach Benoit Groulx was furious that an offside wasn’t called on the play. The goal extended the captain’s goal streak to four games.  

There was no scoring by either team in the middle frame. Syracuse continued outplaying Laval, however the Rocket did a good job keeping most of the shots outside of the dangerous scoring zone. 

Kevin Lynch had his team’s most dangerous chance with 1:10 remaining as he accepted Nikita Jevpalovs’ pass in the neutral zone and headed on a breakaway that Fucaled stopped with his right pad. 

Laval scored on their first shot 48 seconds into the final period as Yannick Veilleux fired a wrist shot from the left face-off circle that beat Fucale glove side. Veilleux has six points in six games since signing his professional tryout contract. 

At the 5:04 mark, Lynch completed a pass to Ralph Cuddemi in the neutral zone, and he went on a breakaway and scored by beating the goalie glove side. 

With 10:30 minutes remaining in the game, Syracuse pulled out all stops while on the power play to get back into it, by having Fucale on the bench for the extra attacker and it paid off. Alex Barre-Boulet beat Kinkaid with a hard shot from the top of the right faceoff circle, while Danick Martel was acting as a screen. 

The goalie was on the bench again when the Crunch closed the gap to one goal. Boris Katchouk completed a tic-tac-toe play that was started by Cal Foote and Mathieu Joseph with 4:38 remaining. 

The Crunch continued to control the play for the remainder of the period, but weren’t able to get the tying goal. Kinkaid made 33 saves to help his team extend the win streak to four games.    

The Rocket begin their five game road trip on Friday at 7:00 pm eastern time in a rematch against the Crunch in Syracuse. Listen to full audio of player and coach post-game interviews in the player below.

Plus / Minus

▲  Keith Kinkaid, Michael McCarron, Kevin Lynch

▼  Joe Cox, Alexandre Alain