Rocket Lineup

Alex Belzile – Michael McCarron – Riley Barber

Matthew Peca – Ryan Poehling – Kevin Lynch

Alexandre Alain – Lukas Vejdemo – Joe Cox

Dale Weise – Jake Evans – Antoine Waked

Otto Leskinen – Maxim Lamarche

Gustav Olofsson – David Sklenicka

Karl Alzner – Josh Brook

Charlie Lindgren – Cayden Primeau

Noah Juulsen (illness), Michael Pezzetta, Nikita Jevpalovs

William Pelletier (undisclosed), Phil Varone (wrist), Xavier Ouellet (lower body)

Game Report

The Rocket took to the road for a one-game trip to Toronto on Wednesday, looking to leapfrog over the team standing in front of them at the top of the North Division.

Charlie Lindgren got the start in net, Dale Weise returned from injury, and David Sklenicka drew back into the lineup as Noah Juulsen was sidelined with illness.

The opening frame was mostly uneventful, with both teams shooting evenly for the first 10-12 minutes, staying disciplined, and getting some decent shots on net. Lindgren made a couple of good saves on shots by Jeremy Bracco.

Sklenicka, at one point, made a nice play through the neutral zone to pass the puck up to Matthew Peca who was driving the net and managed to score on Michael Hutchinson for his second goal of the season.

But then, with just over six minutes left in the frame, Garrett Wilson put a big hit from behind on Alex Belzile along the boards which left Belzile laying face-down on the ice for quite some time. Otto Leskinen dropped the gloves with Wilson to defend his teammate, and soon everyone on the ice was involved.

Belzile eventually was able to make his way off the ice with the help of head athletic therapist Glen Kinney, but it was a struggle. Wilson received a game misconduct for boarding, and Leskinen was handed a 10-minute misconduct for instigating.

The Marlies didn’t waste time finding an equalizer in the opening minutes of the second period. Scott Pooley was parked all alone at the top of the right circle and made no mistake when he took a feed from below the goal line.

For much of the remainder of the game, play was pretty even at both ends of the ice. Each goaltender made some significant saves, and Laval controlled much of the play, particularly by clogging up the neutral zone.

It seemed as if the game was destined for a shootout when, with just 24 seconds left in overtime, Kenny Agostino beat defender Gustav Olofsson and flicked the puck past Lindgren to win the game.

Laval heads back home to Quebec with one point, but still trailing Toronto in the standings. They next face another division rival, the Utica Comets, for a back-to-back series at Place Bell this weekend.

Plus / Minus

▲  David Sklenicka, Charlie Lindgren

▼  Gustav Olofsson, Dale Weise