Rocket Lineup

Yannick Veilleux – Laurent Dauphin – Jake Lucchini

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jordan Weal – Jesse Ylonen

Brandon Baddock – Lukas Vejdemo – Jan Mysak

Arsen Khisamutdinov – Cameron Hillis – Liam Hawel

Corey Schueneman – Josh Brook

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Otto Leskinen

Xavier Ouellete – Gustav Olofsson

Michael McNiven – Vasily Demchenko

Nathanael Halbert, Jacob LeGuerrier, Tristan Pomerleau, Liam Hawel, Terrance Amarosa

Cale Fleury (undisclosed), Ryan Poehling (undisclosed), Joel Teasdale (surgery), Joseph Blandisi (surgery), Michael Pezzetta (surgery)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

After more than a week since playing their last game, the Laval Rocket were back on the Bell Centre ice Tuesday night to play the first of their final seven games this season.

Joel Bouchard‘s lineup looked vastly different this time around, after losing Joel Teasdale, Joseph Blandisi, and Michael Pezzetta to season-ending injuries requiring surgery. Alex Belzile was recalled to the NHL taxi squad, Cale Fleury was not yet healthy enough to return to game action, and Ryan Poehling was also sidelined with an undisclosed injury.

First Period

The opening 20 minutes was a pretty tightly-played period of hockey, with both sides getting some decent chances at the net, but goaltenders Michael McNiven and Joseph Woll stood tall in their respective creases and didn’t allow any pucks to get through.

Jordan Weal and Jake Lucchini almost connected for scoring chances a few times, as did Jesse Ylonen, but the puck just wouldn’t settle down enough for any of the Rocket shooters to score.

Early on, Yannick Veilleux laid a big hit to Joseph Duszak along the boards which left the Toronto blueliner woozy and needing assistance off the ice. Rich Clune dropped the gloves with Veilleux later in the period in retribution, and the two heavy-hitters had a solid bout.

Second Period

Laval found themselves almost immediately on the power play at the start of the second period when Tyler Gaudet got whistled for interference. Instead of potting a goal on the man-advantage, it was the Marlies who lit the lamp with a shorthanded goal by Jeremy McKenna.

It would be the only goal scored by either team in the period, as the game continued to be played very tightly. The Rocket had a ton of scoring chances, but nothing would go in. In fact, they had multiple instances of sustained pressure in the offensive zone, outshooting the Marlies 26-8 in the period.

Third Period

Things opened up quite a bit in the third period, starting with captain Xavier Ouellet, recently back from the NHL taxi squad, tying the game with a big one-timer from the blue line.

Veilleux tallied a goal of his own midway through the period when he deflected Corey Schueneman‘s point shot. 16 seconds later, the Marlies responded with a point shot goal of their own to even the score at 2-2.

Laval took the lead again about four minutes later when Veilleux potted his second goal of the night, this time when the puck deflected into the net off of his skate, but the Marlies came back and scored an equalizer again to force overtime.

The Rocket, setting a new team record by tallying 60 shots on goal, had plenty of chances in overtime but found nothing but a lot of iron as shot after shot rang off the post. With just 11 seconds left in the period, Nic Petan got a puck over the line to win it for Toronto.

What’s Next?

Despite not coming away with two points, the Rocket did have something to celebrate tonight. By earning that single point in going to overtime, Laval clinched the Canadian Division Championship, earning the AHL’s Frank Mathers Trophy for the 2020-21 season.

The team will have a few days to regroup before they host Belleville for the final time this season on Friday night. 

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Ouellet, Lucchini, Veilleux, and Bouchard by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.

Plus / Minus

▲  Jake Lucchini, Jordan Weal, Yannick Veilleux

▼  Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Otto Leskinen