Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Jean-Sebastien Dea – Kevin Roy

Danick Martel – Cedric Paquette – Jesse Ylonen

Gabriel Bourque – Brandon Gignac – Joel Teasdale

Justin Ducharme – Peter Abbandonato – Jean-Christophe Beaudin

Xavier Ouellet – Terrance Amorosa

Sami Niku – Tory Dello

Darien Kielb – Olivier Galipeau

Kevin Poulin – Cayden Primeau

Louis-Philip Guindon, Devante Smith-Pelly, Alexandre Fortin

Lukas Vejdemo (upper-body injury), Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Tobie Paquette-Bisson (undisclosed), Gianni Fairbrother (undisclosed), Josh Brook (lower-body injury), Louie Belpedio, Cameron Hillis

Game Report

Game Report written by Chris G

The Hershey Bears visited Place Bell on Saturday to face the Rocket. Laval snapped a two-game losing streak on Friday with 7-4 win against the Hartford Wolf Pack. Hershey was coming off a pair of road losses to Toronto on Thursday, and Belleville on Friday. 

In goal, Kevin Poulin got the start. Poulin last played against Wilkes-Barre when coming into relief for Louis-Philip Guindon. Guindon was released from his PTO on Saturday morning. 

Former Canadiens prospect Zachary Fucale was in goal for the Bears. 

First Period

The Bears took advantage of Poulin’s delay of game penalty for throwing the puck directly into the fans to open the scoring. At the 4:03 mark, Garrett Pilon’s shot was stopped by Poulin and the rebound went directly to Bobby Nardella for the easy tap-in into the empty net. 

Hershey controlled the play for the majority of the first half, before things balanced out for the remaining of the frame. 

Second Period

Laval took control of the match in the second period by scoring four times. First, Justin Ducharme circled the offensive zone before beating Fucale with a wrist shot at the 3:48 mark.

It took 2:02 for Laval to get on the board again. Kevin Roy intercepted a clear out attempt, and surprised Fucale with a shot from behind the goal line to make it 2-0.  

Moments after stepping out of the penalty box, Cedric Paquette scored blocker side after being set up by Danick Martel. It was Paquette’s first AHL goal since Nov. 1st, 2014 with the Syracuse Crunch. He was held scoreless in 24 games with the Canadiens this season.

Laval added to their lead during a man advantage. Xavier Ouellet rushed from the point, and took a shot that Rafael Harvey-Pinard redirected behind Fucale. With the goal, Harvey-Pinard extended his point streak to seven games. 

Third Period

The Bears made a push in the third period to close the deficit, but were unable to get any pucks behind Poulin. Poulin stopped 13 pucks in the third period including several key saves. 

Brandon Gignac sealed the match with an empty-net goal. Gignac finished the weekend with two goals and three assists. 

What’s Next?

The Rocket’s offence exploded during the weekend, scoring 12 goals in both games. Tory Dello did not finish the game due to a lower body injury. 

Laval will have the day off on Sunday, before preparing to face Belleville on Wednesday at 7:00 pm eastern. 

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Harvey-Pinard, Poulin, Ducharme, and Houle by the AHL Report team and other members of the media.  

Plus / Minus

▲ Kevin Poulin, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Cedric Paquette, Kevin Roy, Xavier Ouellet

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