Rocket Lineup

Charles Hudon – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Kevin Lynch

Matthew Peca – Ryan Poehling – Riley Barber

Phil Varone – Lukas Vejdemo – Alexandre Alain

Yannick Veilleux – Laurent Dauphin – Antoine Waked

Karl Alzner – Cale Fleury

Otto Leskinen – Josh Brook

Gustav Olofsson – Maxim Lamarche

Cayden Primeau – Michael McNiven

Evan McEneny, Michael Pezzetta, Keith Kinkaid

Noah Juulsen (upper body), Alex Belzile (pectoral surgery), Andrew Sturtz, Hayden Verbeek, Lukas Vejdemo, Joe Cox, Will Pelletier, Ralph Cuddemi

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

After losing to division opponents for the first three games on this road trip, and piling up six consecutive road losses, the Rocket ventured into Hartford on Friday night for a tilt against the Wolf Pack, who currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Division.

Lukas Vejdemo made his way back into the lineup on this night after missing a number of games due to injury. Joel Bouchard opted to start rookie Cayden Primeau for the second consecutive night, and left Michael McNiven in as his backup. That meant Keith Kinkaid watched the action from the press box for a second game in a row.

Despite the Wolf Pack icing a goaltender who has only seen five games of AHL action this year, it wasn’t Laval who took advantage first in this game. Hartford put plenty of pressure on the visiting team and managed to go up 2-0 pretty quickly. Danny O’Regan put the puck in close with lots of traffic in the crease, and then Vinni Lettieri blasted a shot from the high slot while Primeau was screened.

The second period brought practically a complete change in forward lines for Bouchard’s squad, but the line blender provided no spark for the Quebec team. Primeau continued to struggle, even mishandling the puck and creating a frantic situation in the crease where Phil Varone had to make a save to keep the score just 2-0 for the Wolf Pack.

Riley Barber finally got Laval on the board in the third period, but the team continued to struggle on every shift, getting outworked and outplayed. On two power play opportunities, the Rocket couldn’t even register a shot on goal during the man advantage. Eventually Hartford potted an empty-net goal to seal the loss for Laval and send them packing.

That’s now four consecutive losses for Laval, and seven straight road losses. Many of their divisional opponents won tonight, which means precious points are slipping away. With Toronto and Syracuse both winning their games, the Rocket move into sole possession of sixth place in the North, with Cleveland and Binghamton both just three points behind them and gaining ground. Laval will look to right the ship on Sunday afternoon when they arrive in Providence to take on the Bruins.

Plus / Minus

▲  Riley Barber, Phil Varone

▼  Cayden Primeau, Ryan Poehling, Matthew Peca