Home Featured Rocket Take a Commanding Series Lead | PLAYOFF RECAP: ROC @ LAV

Rocket Take a Commanding Series Lead | PLAYOFF RECAP: ROC @ LAV

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Rocket Take a Commanding Series Lead | PLAYOFF RECAP: ROC @ LAV

Laval Rocket vs Rochester Americans Game Recap: Line-up, Score, Game Report, Statistics, Highlights, Three Stars, Post-Game, Interviews, AHL, Rocket Sports Media

FINAL | North Division Final – Game 2 | Monday, May 23, 2022

Laval leads series 2-0

Place Bell, Laval, QC

ROCKET

Laval

3-1

AMERICANS

Rochester

Rocket Lineup

Forward lines

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Jesse Ylonen

Brandon Gignac – Cedric Paquette – Alex Belzile

Gabriel Bourque – Peter Abbandonato – Danick Martel

Lucas Condotta – Nate Schnarr – Joel Teasdale

Defense pairings

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Corey Schueneman – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Sami Niku – Tory Dello

Goaltenders

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Scratches

Olivier Galipeau, Terrance Amorosa, Nicolas Mattinen, Owen Savory, Cameron Hillis, Gabriel Mollott-Hill, Kevin Roy, Alexandre Fortin, Justin Ducharme, Max Kaufman, Riley Kidney, Gianni Fairbrother

Injuries

Lukas Vejdemo (lower body), Mattias Norlinder (upper body)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

The Rocket entered tonight’s game fresh off of a 6-1 victory over the Rochester Americans the previous night, thanks in part to Danick Martel’s four-goal game.

In the second half of the back-to-back set which kicks off the North Division Final, Jean-Francois Houle returned to a traditional formation of 12 forwards and six defensemen. Part of that decision was likely due to blueliner Mattias Norlinder being injured in the final minutes of game one, leaving him out of the lineup on this night. Lucas Condotta drew in as the 12th forward on this night.

First Period

It only took about five minutes for the scoring to open in this game, on the fourth shot of the game. Brandon Gignac cleaned up a big rebound in the slot to give the Rocket an early 1-0 lead.

Laval controlled the play for the bulk of the opening frame, firing pucks on Dell from all angles and trying to take advantage of the big rebounds the Rochester goaltender was giving up. Primeau, on the other hand, was not tested much and only faced seven shots in the period.

Second Period

Roughly the same amount of time had passed in the second period when Laval struck again. Despite Rochester coming out with a bit more pressure, Louie Belpedio teed up a big snap shot from the point to double the Rocket tally.

After that, the Amerks did flip the script a bit and began to take back control of the game in bits and pieces. They outshot the Rocket 14-7 in the period, but Primeau had some key saves to keep Rochester out of his net. However, the Amerks weren’t getting a lot of second chances or net-front presence to cause the Laval defense much trouble.

Third Period

Things started getting testy in the final 20 minutes, as Rochester’s frustration started to show in a very visible manner. On multiple occasions, the Rocket found themselves in the fray with Amerks players and it was difficult to stay out of the penalty box.

Rochester continued to struggle to get any decent chances on net, and the officials were letting a lot of things slide which could have been penalties against Laval.

Lucas Condotta made it a night to remember when he scored the third goal of the game for the Rocket. The puck shot out to him all alone in front of the net and he made no mistake to put it past Dell.

Seth Appert pulled his goaltender with about four minutes left in the game, and it paid off. Arttu Ruotsalainen snapped the puck past Primeau blocker side to get the Amerks on the board.

One goal wouldn’t be enough to mount a comeback, however, and the Rocket succeeded in winning their opening two-game set on home ice.

What’s Next?

Laval now travels to Rochester for game three, where the Amerks face elimination if they can’t find a way to beat the Rocket. If that happens, Laval will advance to the Eastern Conference Final.

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

Plus / Minus

▲ Brandon Gignac, Cayden Primeau, Alex Belzile

▼ Danick Martel, Joel Teasdale

The Numbers

 Game Statistics 
ROCKET   AMERICANS
32 Shots 32
0 for 3 Power Play 0 for 4
12 Penalty Minutes 10
 Scoring Summary
 FINAL 1 2 3 OT SO T
Rocket (5-2-0-0) 1 1 1 3
Americans (3-4-0-0) 0 0 1 1
Scorers Goalies
  • LAV: Gignac (2), Belpedio (2), Condotta (1)
  • ROC: Ruotsalainen (9)
  • LAV: Primeau (W) 5-1-0-0
  • ROC: Dell (L) 5-4-0-0

Stars of the Game​​

 AHL Official Three Stars
  1. Cayden Primeau  LAV
  2. Brandon Gignac  LAV
  3. Peter Abbandonato  LAV

Watch

 Video Highlights

What Did They Say?

 Post-game Interviews

 Jean-Francois Houle

Louie Belpedio

Brandon Gignac

Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Post-game interviews conducted for The AHL Report tonight by Chris G

Social Media

 Follow @TheAHLReport on Twitter

Follow @theAHLReport on Twitter

2 COMMENTS

  1. salut-bien chers amis rocketCH9,
    2 big wins to,one to go
    developement league,developement team?
    how to best develope players?
    easy.win baby win,,,
    merci pour les infos amy
    thanks for the post-game
    ps,these kids are our future.they should not be neglected or underestimated.the grass is not always more green on the other side.
    guyCH10 soit avec-nous en esprit toujours,

    • Salut! Glad to hear that you are enjoying the Laval playoff run! Yes, what an incredible start to the series….just one more win to go to the Conference Final! Although there aren’t many prospects on the Laval team this year, the ones who are there are certainly getting good experience. Thanks for reading and for your comments!

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