RECAP | Monsters – Rocket: Laval Earns a Point, Falls in Shootout

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Photo by Laval Rocket
FINAL (SO) | 2018-19 Season, Game 42 | Saturday, January 18, 2019 
Place Bell, Laval, QC

ROCKET
Laval

4-5

MONSTERS
Cleveland

Photo by Laval Rocket

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Audette – Froese – Belzile
Shinkaruk – Vejdemo – Grenier
Jevpalovs – Martineau – Waked
Kile – Verbeek – Alain[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Sklenicka – Lernout
Ouellet – Fleury
Moravcik – Lamarche[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:
LaCouvee
McNiven

Scratches:

Charlie Lindgren, Michael Pezzetta, Adam Plant, Jake Evans

Injury List:

Gustav Olofsson (shoulder), Noah Juulsen (upper body injury), Michael McCarron (upper body injury), David Schlemko (undisclosed)

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Rocket hosted the Monsters on Saturday afternoon for the second of their weekend series. Laval won by a score of 1-0 on Friday night. The Rocket have lost only two of their last ten games in regulation and were looking to extend their three-game win streak.

Connor LaCouvee got the start in goal looking to get his fifth win in as many starts. Jake Evans, who didn’t finish Friday night’s game after getting hit from behind, was not in the lineup and Adam Plant was a healthy scratch. Michal Moravcik and Alex Kile made their way back to the lineup.

The Monsters didn’t waste any time to get on the board, as 1:37 into the game Kole Sherwood capitalized on a loose puck that LaCouvee thought was underneath his arm. At the 6:12 mark, Alex Belzile scored in a second consecutive game on a play that he created by causing an opposing player to turnover the puck.

Mark Letestu scored during a Monster power play following a scramble in front of the net. The goal was confirmed after video review as the officials reviewed whether the net was off the ice prior to puck crossing the line.

Laval ended the period on a 5-on-3 penalty kill. Byron Froese was called for boarding against Justin Scott and on the scrum that followed Belzile received a ten-minute misconduct.

There was a lot of offence in the second period, as the teams totaled 32 shots in the frame. While both teams had four skaters on the ice, Daniel Audette picked up his second assist of the game as he used his speed to skate through the neutral zone to create a two-on-one and passed it to an open Xavier Ouellet who scored his first goal of the season.

That gave the Rocket momentum, until Vitaly Abramov scored on a 2-on-1 with 2:44 remaining in the period to give his team the lead.

Audette tied the game in the third period by scoring a power play goal. That was Audette’s eighth point in his last four games. Alexandre Grenier gave Laval the lead as he beat an icing and took a shot past Jean-Francois Berube. “I tried to spot the puck for him to attack the net. It worked,” said Ouellet, who got his third point of the game on the play.

With 3:39 remaining in the third period, LaCouvee was screened as he was beaten by Ryan Collins’ point shot to tie the game and push the teams to overtime.

The 3-on-3 overtime didn’t settle a winner, but there were many scoring chances on both ends, including a 3-on-0 for Laval.

Alex Broadhurst scored the winner in the shootout to give Cleveland the victory. Belzile was Laval’s only successful scorer. “I’m so proud of the guys,” said Bouchard after the game.

Laval begins their five-game road trip on Monday as they face Springfield at 1:00pm ET. Listen in the player below for full post-game audio.

▲     Daniel Audette, Alexandre Grenier, Connor LaCouvee

▼     Michal Moravcik, Alex Kile

 Statistics 
ROCKET MONSTERS
40 Shots 39
1 for 3 Power Play 1 for 4
27 Penalty Minutes 15
 Scoring
 FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
 Rocket (18-17-3-4) 1 1 2 0 0 4
 Monsters (19-16-4-1) 2 1 1 0 1 5
Scorers Goalies
  • LAV: Belzile (10), Ouellet (1), Audette (8), Grenier (8)
  • CLE: Sherwood (5), Letestu (11), Abramov (7), Collins (1)
  • LAV: LaCouvee (L) 4-1-0-1
  • CLE: Berube (W) 12-12-3-0
 AHL Three Stars
ahl14_200  

  1. Alex Broadhurst  CLE
  2. Jean-Francois Berube  CLE
  3. Xavier Ouellet  LAV

 Video highlights
 Post-game interview
Post-game interview with Joel Bouchard:

Post-game interview with Connor LaCouvee:

Post-game interview with Xavier Ouellet:

Post-game interview with Daniel Audette:

Post-game interview with Alexandre Grenier:

Interviews conducted by Chris G for AHL Report

 Social Media: Follow @TheAHLReport on Twitter
https://twitter.com/RocketLaval/status/1086742119639846912

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