Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Mitchell Stephens – Anthony Richard

Emil Heineman – Peter Abbandonato – Jesse Ylonen

Xavier Simoneau – Lucas Condotta – Pierrick Dube

Gabriel Bourque – Nolan Yaremko – Joel Teasdale

William Trudeau – Corey Schueneman

Jayden Struble – Olivier Galipeau

Mattias Norlinder – Tory Dello

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

John Parker-Jones, Frederic Allard, Brandon Gignac, Jakub Dobes, Danick Martel, Riley McKay, Jan Mysak

Gianni Fairbrother (knee), Otto Leskinen, Madison Bowey, Nicolas Beaudin

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G 

The Laval Rocket wrapped up their regular season schedule on Friday by hosting the Syracuse Crunch. Laval extended their win streak to three games on Wednesday with 6-3 victory over the Toronto Marlies.

Syracuse was coming off a 6-4 win against the Utica Comets and were looking to snap their nine game lost streak at Place Bell.

Joel Teasdale, Lucas Condotta, and Frederic Allard were returned to the AHL following their brief stints with the Canadiens. The two forwards were dressed for the regular season finale. Jean-Francois Houle made one change to the lineup with Nolan Yaremko slotting in to replace Riley McKay.

Cayden Primeau got the start in goal after making 39 saves in Wednesday’s victory.

First Period

Laval did not waste any time to get on the board. During the second minute of the game, Xavier Simoneau won the faceoff back to Pierrick Dube and Dube beat Hugo Alnefelt top corner for the goal.

Syracuse bounced back four minutes later when Jack Thompson took a shot from the faceoff circle with lots of traffic in front of Primeau to tie the score.

The duo of Dube and Simoneau struck again at 12:35 when Simoneau found Dube in the slot to give the Rocket the lead.

Laval added a cushion with a pair of goals during four-on-four sequence. First, Corey Schueneman used William Trudeau as a screen to get the puck passed the red line. Mitchell Stephens extended his point streak to eight games with an assist on the sequence.

A minute later, Anthony Richard created a turnover, hit the post and took his own rebound and went for a wraparound to score his 30th of the season. Richard’s goal ended Alnefelt’s night and coach Benoit Groulx called on Jack LaFontaine to get in goal.

With less than two minutes remaining, Syracuse reduced the lead when the puck ended up on Daniel Walcott‘s stick after a blocked shot and the forward beat Primeau for the goal.

Second Period

The Crunch started the period with Alnefelt returning back to action as Lafontaine was injured in the final minute of the first period.

Laval headed on the power play at the 6:24 mark and it did not look good. The best scoring chance went to Syracuse when Gage Goncalves went on a breakaway but was stopped by Primeau with his right pad.

The second period was dominated by the Crunch, outshooting the Rocket 12-4 but Laval’s netminder made several quality stops to prevent any pucks from getting behind him.

Third Period

Syracuse continued controlling the game in the third period and it paid off for them at 7:49 when Walcott picked up his own rebound and beat Primeau through the pads to cut the lead to one goal.

The Crunch peppered Primeau and the goalie made stop after stop to allow the Rocket to come out victorious.

What’s Next

Syracuse outplayed their opponents in the final 40 minutes outshooting Laval 33-12. Primeau was named the first star with a 39-save performance. The Canadiens prospect had the franchise-record 10,295 fans chanting his name throughout the match.

Laval’s 4-3 win, in combination with the Cleveland Monsters’ 2-1 loss to the Utica Comets, secures the Rocket a playoff spot. Laval’s opponent will be determined following this weekend’s matches involving North division teams.

Houle told reporters that he will give his team the weekend off before returning for practice on Monday.

Be sure to scroll down for audio clips from tonight’s post-game media interviews with Richard, Primeau, Dube and Houle, conducted by the AHL Report and other members of the press.

Plus / Minus

▲ Cayden Primeau, Mitchell Stephens, Anthony Richard, Pierrick Dube

▼ Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Peter Abbandonato