Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jordan Weal – Jesse Ylonen

Brandon Baddock – Lukas Vejdemo – Alex Belzile

Joseph Blandisi – Ryan Poehling – Joel Teasdale

Michael Pezzetta – Jan Mysak – Jake Lucchini

Corey Schueneman – Otto Leskinen

Tobie Paquette-Bisson – Cale Fleury

Guillaume Brisebois – Josh Brook

Michael McNiven – Vasily Demchenko

Nathanael Halbert, Hayden Verbeek, Jacob Leguerrier, Cameron Hillis, Terrance Amorosa, Tristan Pomerleau, Gustav Olofsson, Cayden Primeau, Liam Hawel, Arsen Khisamutdinov, Yannick Veilleux (suspended)

N/A

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Rocket began a four-games series on Thursday against the Moose in Winnipeg. The two teams split a four-game series at the Bell Centre in February. 

Laval is coming off a 4-2 win on Tuesday night against Stockton, while Manitoba’s last game was on March 13th when they beat Stockton 4-2. 

Joel Bouchard decided to put on the same lineup, with the exception in goal, as the team wasn’t able to practice since their arrival in Manitoba. Michael McNiven got the start the in net. In his last start, he made 22 saves in a win against the Heat.

First Period

Manitoba opened the scoring during their first power play of the match. While Jordan Weal was in the box for slashing, Peter Krieger’s point shot was redirected in front of the blue paint by Jeff Malott for the goal. It was only the fourth time this season that Laval allowed the first goal of the contest.  

The Rocket capitalized on their second man advantage as Joseph Blandisi scooped up Joel Teasdale’s rebound in the crease to tie the game. The goal was Blandisi’s fourth in the last four games.

Second Period

The second period was played tighter defensively by both teams. As a penalty to the Moose was expiring, Josh Brook setup Jesse Ylonen for a one-timer goal with a cross-ice pass. The goal was Ylonen’s fourth goal in the last four games. 

Laval increased it’s lead to 3-1 with another goal 1:06 later. Blandisi made a pass to Guillaume Brisebois in the slot and he beat Mikhail Berdin glove side. It was Brisebois’ first goal with the Rocket, and Teasdale obtained his seventh point in the last four games on that sequence.

Third Period

Manitoba was buzzing in Laval’s zone but the defence prevented them from getting pucks on net. The Moose had one shot on goal 16:42 into the period. 

Pascal Vincent called a timeout to lay out a plan for his team and it paid off. Following an icing against Laval, Manitoba won the ensuing face-off with tired skaters on the ice, and Skyler McKenzie tipped Kristian Vesalainen’s blast from the point to cut the lead with 32 seconds. 

The Moose continued to apply pressure in the final seconds and David Gustafsson’s shot from the top of the face-off circle went through traffic and behind McNiven with under one second remaining on the clock to send the teams to overtime. 

The overtime didn’t settle the match, and led to a shootout. Nathan Todd was the only scorer, to give the Moose a 4-3 win. Ylonen, Ryan Poehling, and Weal were unsuccessful in their attempts. 

What’s Next?

The loss snapped Laval’s six-game winning streak. Alex Belzile didn’t finish the game with an undisclosed injury, and will be re-evaluated on Friday. 

The Rocket try to get their revenge versus the Moose on Friday at 7:00pm eastern at the Bell MTS Iceplex. 

Plus / Minus

▲  Joseph Blandisi, Joel Teasdale, Guillaume Brisebois

▼  Tobie Paquette-Brisson, Brandon Baddock, Lukas Vejdemo