ROCKET
Laval

1-5

THUNDERBIRDS
Springfield

Lineup

Forward lines and defense pairings: 

[one_half]Terry – Cracknell – Gregoire
Boucher – Petti – Felhaber
Veilleux – Eisenschmid – Waked
Broll – Beauregard – Korostelev[/one_half]

[one_half_last]Valiev – Plant
McFadden – Taormina
Austin – Owens[/one_half_last]

Goaltenders:
Fucale
McNiven

Scratches:

Tom Parisi, Eric Gelinas, Charlie Lindgren, Jeremiah Addison (flu), Simon Bourque (DTD), Thomas Ebbing (DTD), Daniel Audette (lower body), Stefan Leblanc (day to day)

Injury List:

Game Report

With the season rapidly winding down, the Laval Rocket again iced a lineup brimming with young players on tryout status to see what they could do in preparation for next year.

But it was a newcomer on the Springfield Thunderbird’s bench who got the scoring started. First-round pick Owen Tippett, playing in his first AHL game, scored his first AHL goal just about halfway through the opening period.

Not to be outdone, the veterans on Laval’s side of the ice got an equalizer just a few minutes later when Chris Terry wristed the puck into the back of the net on a power play. The goal was Terry’s 30th of the season, and moved him into sole possession of the lead in the league’s points race (68).

The second period was all Springfield, as they outshot the home team 12-5 over the middle 20 minutes of play. Yannick Veilleux and Josh Brown brought the crowd to life, however, when they dropped the gloves and exchanged blows. Jordan Boucher and Dryden Hunt then had a wild tilt towards the end of the game as frustrations began boiling over for the home team.

In goal scoring, it was the Thunderbirds who dominated for the second half of the game.  Alexandre Grenier scored three goals over the two periods, with the Laval defense just not able to sustain any consistent pressure.

The Rocket have three more games to play before the close the door on this season, and only one of those games will be played on home ice. They’ll need to dig deep to find the will within themselves to try to get some wins under their belt before it’s too late.

▲     Chris Terry

▼

1. Alexandre Grenier  SPR
2. Curtis Valk  SPR
3. Harri Sateri  SPR

Interviews conducted by Amy Johnson for AHL Report

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