Rocket Lineup

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Cedric Paquette – Jean-Sebastien Dea

Brandon Gignac – Nate Schnarr – Kevin Roy

Danick Martel – Lukas Vejdemo – Joel Teasdale

Justin Ducharme – Jean-Christophe Beaudin – Gabriel Bourque

Xavier Ouellet – Nicolas Mattinen

Terrance Amorosa – Louie Belpedio

Olivier Galipeau – Sami Niku

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Devante Smith-Pelly, Peter Abbandonato, Darien Kielb, Peter Abbandonato

Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Tobie Paquette-Bisson (undisclosed), Gianni Fairbrother (undisclosed), Josh Brook (lower-body injury), Cameron Hillis, Tory Dello

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

The Laval Rocket found themselves back on the road this week, for a trip that’s a litter farther from home than usual. Starting with a back-to-back in Manitoba against the Moose, the Quebecois team will then head to the west coast for a two-game series against the Abbotsford Canucks.

Entering tonight’s matchup against the Moose, the Rocket were coming off a solid home stand which had them sitting in second place in the North Division. Their most recent game happened last Saturday with a 5-3 victory over the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Two familiar faces returned to Laval’s lineup on this night: Lukas Vejdemo, back from an extended injury absence, and Sami Niku back from family leave.

First Period

There was plenty of even play through opening 13 minutes of this game. Both teams seemed to be getting a feel for each other, but toward the halfway point Manitoba was really pressuring the Rocket and leading in shots.

However, it was Gabriel Bourque who opened the scoring when he flipped the puck toward the net and, after it deflected back out into the slot, he picked it up and buried it.

Laval were the only ones penalized in the period, a high-sticking call on Jean-Sebastien Dea, but they successfully killed it off. Interestingly, Manitoba had a new face on their power play: Morgan Barron, traded to the team at the deadline last week, and brother of new Montreal Canadiens defenseman Justin Barron.

Cayden Primeau faced 12 shots in the period and he was perfect through 20 minutes of play.

Second Period

It looked like the second period was going to travel the same path of the opening 20 minutes, with both teams even struggling to get shots on net. But halfway through the period, Manitoba scored an equalizer to bring the score to 1-1. Jeff Mallott beat Xavier Ouellet down low and fed the puck through the crease. It rebounded out to Nick Hutchison waiting in the opposite circle, who ripped the puck past Primeau.

A few minutes later, Mallott was a focal point again when he dropped the gloves with Louie Belpedio after the Rocket defenseman took Mikey Essiymont awkwardly into the end boards.

With about three minutes left in the frame, Joel Teasdale did some good work behind the net to corral the puck and keep it on his stick. He danced around a defender and brought the puck out far enough that he could feed it through to Danick Martel who quickly deflected it past Evan Cormier.

Third Period

Former Manitoba blueliner Sami Niku took a holding penalty less than a minute into the third period, and the Moose wasted no time on the power play. Eight seconds later, David Gustafsson ripped a wrister from the circle and beat Primeau blocker side to tie the game once again.

For the third time in the game, the Rocket found a way to take the lead yet again when Jean-Sebastien Dea found the back of the net off a one-timer from the circle while the teams were playing four-on-four hockey.

But the Moose weren’t done yet. With just under four minutes left in regulation, Niku sent the puck over the glass in the defensive zone and headed back to the penalty box for the second time in the frame.

And just like the first time, Manitoba capitalized on the power play opportunity. Barron, scoring his first as a Moose, skated the puck through the neutral zone, split Terrance Amorosa and Louie Belpedio, and crashed the net hard to dribble the puck over the goal line.

The overtime period started with concurring roughing minors to Belpedio and C.J. Suess. Both teams had wild chances to score, but the goaltenders stood their ground (and had some goal posts to thank as well).

None of Laval’s three shooters were able to score in the shootout, and Essyimont’s tally was the only one needed to hand Manitoba two points on the night.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲ Cayden Primeau, Louie Belpedio, Lukas Vejdemo

▼ Sami Niku, Olivier Galipeau, Rafael Harvey-Pinard