Rocket Lineup

Laurent Dauphin – Ryan Poehling – Cole Caufield

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

Kevin Roy – Brendan Gignac – Gabriel Bourque

Brandon Baddock – Alexandre Fortin – Danick Martel

Mattias Norlinder – Xavier Ouellet

Gianni Fairbrother – Tobie Paquette-Bisson

Corey Schueneman – Louie Belpedio

Michael McNiven – Cayden Primeau

Carl Neill, Lukas Vejdemo, Terrance Amorosa

Joel Teasdale (surgery), Josh Brook (surgery), Tory Dello (DTD), Jean-Christophe Beaudin (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

Laval losing streak extended to three games on Saturday night as they visited the Syracuse Crunch for the first time this season. They were blanked 4-0, the second shutout they’ve suffered in the past two weeks.

Next up, the Rocket headed to Utica, NY to take on the Comets who, coming into the game, were undefeated and playing the last game of a three-in-three weekend.

Jean-Francois Houle made no personnel changes to his lineup, however he did tweak the line combinations just a bit. Laurent Dauphin and Rafael Harvey-Pinard swapped lines, and Mattias Norlinder was promoted to the first pairing with captain Xavier Ouellet. Michael McNiven was tapped to start in the net.

First Period

The opening 20 minutes didn’t provide a whole lot of action, as both teams sort of settled into the game a bit slowly. Dauphin took an early penalty, which the Rocket were able to kill off. The Comets lead the league on the power play and on the penalty kill.

Utica stepped up the pressure in the offensive zone in the second half of the period and began peppering McNiven and the defense with pucks. For his part, McNiven was solid and even had the post to thank for a couple of stops.

Cole Caufield was active on his shifts again, but still had difficulty getting pucks through to the net. Those that did, Nico Daws was able to stop.

Second Period

The scoring started just a minute and a half into the second period when Tyce Thompson tapped in a rebound that came across the blue paint. Joe Gambardella then scored on a three-on-one with just Norlinder back to defend. The other four Rocket skaters were at or below the offensive zone goal line, with no way to get back in time to help out.

Norlinder continued to impress with his nose for the offensive side of the game, shooting the puck whenever presented with the opportunity. Although he still hasn’t found the back of the net, his shot is quite accurate and forced the goaltender to make a save.

Utica managed to mount countless odd-man rushes throughout the remainder of the game, but McNiven held strong in net and came up with some pretty significant saves to keep the game close.

Finally, with less than two minutes left in the period, Laval got their first power play opportunity. The Comets took another penalty soon after, leaving the Rocket with an extended five-on-three advantage to start the third.

Third Period

Although the five-on-three and ensuing five-on-four power plays came up empty, Dauphin, Ryan Poehling, and Caufield connected just as the man-advantage expired to put the Rocket on the board. It was their first goal in five periods of hockey.

Laval surged back on the shot clock in this period, but couldn’t get any pucks through Daws. On one occasion they did manage to light the lamp, officials immediately called it off for an obvious high stick.

Utica wasn’t going to go down easily, however, and Graeme Clarke scooped up his own rebound, moved around Tobie Paquette-Bisson, and ripped the puck into the Laval net to restore the two-goal lead.

Jesse Ylonen then potted his third goal of the season when he drove home a loose puck in the crease and pulled the Rocket back within a goal of their opponent. But with time ticking down on the clock, and McNiven pulled for an extra attacker, Jesper Boqvist hustled back after Chase De Leo‘s empty-net shot went wide and put the puck over the goal line himself.

What’s Next?

The Rocket get back to home ice this week, with another three-game homestand starting on Wednesday against the Belleville Senators. They’ll then welcome the Bridgeport Islanders to town on Friday night, followed by a rematch against the Utica Comets on Saturday afternoon.

Plus / Minus

▲ Michael McNiven, Jesse Ylonen

▼ Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Brendan Gignac, Xavier Ouellet