Rocket Lineup

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

Gabriel Bourque – Peter Abbandonato – Joel Teasdale

Kevin Roy – Danick Martel – Shawn St. Amant

Alexandre Fortin – Cam Hillis – Devante Smith-Pelly

Xavier Ouellet – Tory Dello

Sami Niku – Louie Belpedio

Gianni Fairbrother – Terrance Amorosa

Cayden Primeau – Kevin Poulin

Justin Ducharme, Jean-Christophe Beaudin, Josh Brook

Brandon Gignac (upper-body injury), Lukas Vejdemo (upper-body injury), Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Tobie Paquette-Bisson (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

Monday’s tilt against the Cleveland Monsters, the first game the Laval Rocket has played against the Columbus Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, turned out to be a nail-biter. In a tightly played game, neither team gave much away, but the Rocket ultimately came out with a 2-1 shootout victory.

In the Wednesday night rematch, head coach Jean-Francois Houle opted to keep his lineup the same as the previous game with Cayden Primeau getting the start in goal. Defenseman Terrance Amorosa drew into the lineup in place of an injured Tobie Paquette-Bisson.

First Period

The game got off to a quick start for Cleveland when Brett Gallant entered the offensive zone and put a floating puck on net from the perimeter. The shot seemed to catch Primeau offguard and the Monsters had an early 1-0 lead.

The remainder of the period was played very evenly and cleanly, with only one penalty taken by the Monsters. It very much resembled the opening period in Monday’s game.

Second Period

It looked like the middle frame was going to end being quite an uneventful one, with the exception of some roughing penalties by Cole Cassels and Louie Belpedio who got into a bit of a tussle along the boards.

Both goaltenders had to make some big saves in the period, and Primeau had a couple of sequences where he had to be sharp to keep the puck out of the net.

But with just six seconds left before the intermission, and with the Rocket on a power play, Jean-Sebastien Dea fed the puck to Joel Teasdale from the slot and the young forward was able to get it across the goal line to tie the game. 

Third Period

Cleveland found themselves down two forwards to begin the third period, opening the door a little wider for Laval to take control of the game.

Devante Smith-Pelly gave the Rocket their first lead of the night after a nice passing sequence by Alexandre Fortin and Sami Niku, who put the puck right on Smith-Pelly’s blade for him to go top shelf.

The Monsters maintained pressure, though, and Laval had trouble handling it. Tristan Mullin scored the equalizer just past the midway point in the period, completing a nifty little give-and-go sequence.

Laval began chasing the play a bit, trying to regain their lead, but instead it was Cleveland who pulled ahead for the second time in the game. With under three minutes to go, Cole Cassels fed the puck off the boards to Mullin, who dished it to Carson Meyer in the slot. Meyer ripped a snap shot past Primeau for a 3-2 lead.

An empty-netter by Thomas Schemitsch was enough to put this one away for the Monsters.

What’s Next?

The Rocket will now prepare for another set of home games this weekend, when they host the Abbotsford Canucks in a back-to-back series starting on Friday night.

Be sure to scroll down to hear post-game interviews with Dea, Smith-Pelly, Teasdale, and Houle by the AHL Report team and other members of the media. 

Plus / Minus

▲ Jean-Sebastien Dea, Joel Teasdale, Sami Niku

▼ Terrance Amorosa, Gabriel Bourque, Peter Abbandonato