Rocket Lineup

Gabriel Bourque – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Lukas Vejdemo – Alex Belzile

Danick Martel – Brendan Gignac – Kevin Roy

Brandon Baddock – Cam Hillis – Alexandre Fortin

Terrance Amorosa – Louie Belpedio

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Carl Neill

Tory Dello – Charles-David Beaudoin

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Michael McNiven, Xavier Ouellet

Joel Teasdale (surgery), Josh Brook (surgery), Jean-Christophe Beaudin (DTD), Gianni Fairbrother (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Rocket hosted the Stars on Friday for the second time this week. Laval came back from a two-goal deficit on Wednesday, but it was not enough as Texas won 4-3 in overtime.  

Jean-Francois Houle was forced to make several changes to his lineup as forward Laurent Dauphin and defenseman Corey Schueneman were recalled by the Canadiens. 

Cameron Hillis and Charles-David Beaudoin were inserted into the lineup. Hillis was scratched for Wednesday’s game, while Beaudoin made his Rocket debut, after being recalled from the Trois-Rivieres Lions on Monday. 

Cayden Primeau obtained the start in goal for a second consecutive contest. On Wednesday, he made 23 saves in the overtime loss.

First Period

It took just over two minutes into the match for the first goal of the night, as Hillis redirected Beaudoin’s shot from the faceoff circle. Hillis’ goal was on Laval’s first shot, while Beaudoin’s assist was his first AHL point since February 29th, 2020, when he was playing for the Manitoba Moose. 

Texas received three consecutive penalties, and Laval was not able to capitalize on their opportunities. The Rocket took three shots on goal during the six minutes of play with the extra attacker. 

On the other end, the Stars capitalized on their sole power play opportunity. While Rafael Harvey-Pinard was in the box, Ben Gleason used Riley Tufte as a screen to beat Primeau with a wrist shot.

Second Period

Texas got into penalty trouble early in the second period, but Laval’s power play was still set at off. Jesse Ylonen took a wrist shot that trickled behind Adam Scheel, but the goaltender was able to glove the puck before it crosses the red line. 

Ylonen had another scoring chance later in the period when Terrance Amorosa’s shot created a rebound. The forward took two quick shots on goal, but Scheel came up with two big pad saves on Ylonen. 

Kevin Roy gave Laval the lead in a scramble in front of the net, and put the puck at the back of the net on his second try. 

Texas made Laval pay again during a power play as Anthony Louis was all alone in front of Primeau to tie the score. On the sequence, all four Laval players were in the corner and left Louis uncovered in front of the crease. 

The Rocket finally made the Stars pay on the power play as Jean-Sebastien Dea profited from a turnover to score for the first time in six matches.

Third Period

Texas applied the pressure throughout the third period hoping to tie the game. Laval was able to kill Brandon Gignac’s penalty in the final minutes with Primeau making several key saves.

Texas did not throw in the towel, and tied the game 3-3 with eight seconds remaining. The Stars pulled their goalie for the extra attacker, and Louis scored his second of the night off a rebound to send the game in overtime. Texas outshot Laval 13-3 in the period. 

In the second minute of the fourth period, Ylonen maintained possession of the puck while fresh teammates hit the ice, and passed the puck to the speedy Gignac. The forward entered the offensive zone with speed and ended the game with a wrist shot.

What’s Next?

The 4-3 win snapped Laval’s four-game losing streak. Laval will travel to Toronto on Saturday in preparation for Sunday’s game against the Marlies at 4:00pm eastern. 

Earlier in the day, Houle provided injury updates for some of his players. Jean-Christophe Beaudin practiced with the main group and might return next week, while Gianni Fairbrother skated with a no-contact jersey. Joel Teasdale is ahead of schedule and will likely return within a month, while Josh Brook should return in January.

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Dea, Belpedio, Primeau, and Houle by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.

Plus / Minus

▲ Jesse Ylonen, Brandon Gignac, Cayden Primeau

▼ Tory Dello, Alex Belzile