Rocket Lineup

Anthony Richard – Alex Belzile – Joel Teasdale

Gabriel Bourque – Peter Abbandonato – Jesse Ylonen

Lucas Condotta – Mitchell Stephens – Nate Schnarr

Xavier Simoneau – Brandon Gignac – Pierrick Dube

William Trudeau – Corey Schueneman

Tory Dello – Madison Bowey

Olivier Galipeau – Santino Centorame

Cayden Primeau – Philippe Desrosiers

Rafael Harvey-Pinard (emergency NHL recall), Rem Pitlick (emergency NHL recall), Eric Williams, Mattias Norlinder (illness), John Parker-Jones

Gianni Fairbrother (knee), Jan Mysak (DTD), Danick Martel (DTD), Otto Leskinen, Nicolas Beaudin, Gabriel Bourque, Kevin Poulin

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

Friday nights game in Toronto was likely not a fun one for Laval, losing the game 4-1 as the Marlies continued their dominance of the North Division. Fortunately, the team had little time to think about the loss, as they were right back on the ice to face the Marlies again on Saturday afternoon.

With not much wiggle room in terms of shaking up the roster, Jean-Francois Houle at least had Joel Teasdale back in the lineup. John Parker-Jones sat this one out.

First Period

Today’s game got off to a much better start for Laval, as this time it was the Rocket who scored the first goal. It came on the first shot of the game as Madison Bowey ripped a shot from the point and the puck went bar down and into Keith Petruzzelli‘s net.

Both teams tightened up the neutral zone significantly compared to the previous night, and although Toronto did apply some sustained pressure, it was Laval who had more success. In the late minutes of the period, the Rocket scored two more goals in very similar fashion.

First, Corey Schueneman fired a long shot from the blue line that rebounded off of Petruzzelli. Peter Abbandonato was in close to the crease to grab the rebound and backhand it into the net.

Moments later, Pierrick Dube scored an almost identical goal thanks to a rebound off of Bowey’s shot.

Second Period

Despite the fact that Laval had a power play to begin the middle frame, Toronto came out with some determination and managed to get themselves on the board.

Logan Shaw got a solid shot off while shorthanded, and Primeau gave up a juicy rebound right into the slot. Bobby McMann was right there to recover the rebound and put the puck in the back of the net.

Brandon Gignac, however, soon restored the Rocket’s three-goal lead, and succeeded in chasing Petruzzelli from the game. Erik Kallgren entered the crease in relief. In a different effort to fire up the Marlies’ bench, Matteo Pietroniro dropped the gloves with Lucas Condotta for a fiesty bout of fists.

But it didn’t have the desired effect, as Gabriel Bourque soon tallied a goal of his own after deflecting the puck off his body from Abbandonato’s shot. But Toronto responded with a backhander into the net from a sharp angle below the goal line.

Third Period

The score remained the same at 5-2 through most of the final frame, but late in the period McMann scored his second of the night. It was a little too late for the Marlies to mount a comeback however, particularly after Alex Belzile and Jesse Ylonen each potted empty-net goals.

The victory was the first time in six meetings with Toronto thus far this season that the Rocket came out on top.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲ Jesse Ylonen, Corey Schueneman, Peter Abbandonato, Pierrick Dube

▼ Cayden Primeau, Mitchell Stephens, Lucas Condotta