Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Alex Belzile

Danick Martel – Brandon Gignac – Kevin Roy

Gabriel Bourque – Nate Schnarr – Joel Teasdale

Lucas Condotta – Brandon Gignac – Devante Smith-Pelly

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Corey Schueneman – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Sami Niku – Corey Schueneman

Kevin Poulin – Gabriel Mollot-Hill

Emil Heineman, Olivier Galipeau, Peter Abbandonato, Terrance Amorosa, Nicolas Mattinen, Owen Savory, Jesse Ylonen

Gianni Fairbrother (undisclosed), Cameron Hillis, Lukas Vejdemo (lower body), Cedric Paquette

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

The Laval Rocket kicked off their final week of the regular season looking to get back into the win column after a disappointing previous week, which culminated in a 5-1 loss to the Syracuse Crunch. That loss also dropped the Rocket down to third place in the North Division, allowing the Crunch to leapfrog them into second position.

After clinching a playoff spot on Sunday, with two games on the schedule this week against the Toronto Marlies and one more on the road in Syracuse, the Rocket would need to dig deep to earn points and solidify their position.

Kevin Poulin was tapped to start in goal for this game, with Cayden Primeau once again on emergency recall to Montreal. How long the young netminder will need to stay up there this is yet to be determined, which could put a lot of pressure on the veteran Poulin.

First Period

The opening 10 minutes of the game were pretty uneventful, but the Rocket had the edge in pressure and puck possession. They managed to get a few good shots in on Michael Hutchinson, but nothing would cross the goal line.

At the midway point, the Marlies took the games first penalty (the only one in the frame) and Louie Belpedio opened the scoring for Laval. He found himself all alone in the left circle to collect a rebound and put the puck in the net.

A few minutes later, pouncing on a turnover by Toronto, Rafael Harvey-Pinard skated up the left side of the ice and fed the puck to Alex Belzile. He completed the play as he drove the net, putting Laval up 2-0.

With just five minutes left before intermission, however, the Marlies got on the board when Alex Steeves patiently took the puck in front of the crease and banked it off of Poulin’s pads to pull his team within a goal.

Second Period

It didn’t take long for Toronto to build on their momentum to open the second period. Just minutes into the frame, former Rocket forward Joseph Blandisi fed the puck to Marc Michaelis in the slot, who backhanded the puck past Poulin to even the score.

Immediately after that goal, the Rocket found themselves shorthanded for the first time in the game when Gabriel Bourque was whistled for slashing. Laval killed off the penalty, and were rewarded with a power play of their own shortly after Bourque’s penalty expired. Xavier Ouellet dangled the puck at the top of the slot and fired a shot that deflected on the way in to beat Hutchinson.

The Marlies weren’t going away easily, however. They soon tied the score once again when Mikhail Abramov picked up a puck behind Poulin that had slipped through his pads and put it into the net.

With Nate Schnarr in the box for holding, Toronto was able to secure their first lead in the game when Blandisi took advantage of Poulin toppling over in the crease attempting to make a first save and roofed the puck over him.

Third Period

Less than four minutes into the third, Harvey-Pinard scored the equalizer when he tipped a puck and put it through Hutchinson’s five-hole. The final period of regulation didn’t see any more scoring, but it did boast plenty of physical play and roughing penalties. Both teams played a tighter defense game in this period, with only a total of eights shots registered between them.

In overtime, the three-on-three pace was quick and the goaltenders had to be sharp. With Toronto buzzing in the Laval zone after the midway point, Brett Seney entered the zone and fed the puck through the crease to a driving Joey Anderson to win the game.

What’s Next?

Although Laval did manage to get a point out of this game, the loss did plenty of damage. Elsewhere in the division, Syracuse won their game in overtime and put an even wider gap between them in second place and the rest of the field.

The Rocket don’t have much time to mull over this loss, as they’ll meet the Marlies on home ice again on Thursday night.

Plus / Minus

▲ Jean-Sebastien Dea, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Alex Belzile

▼ Danick Martel, Brandon Gignac, Corey Schueneman