Rocket Lineup

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

Gabriel Bourque – Brandon Gignac – Kevin Roy

Joel Teasdale – Peter Abbandonato – Devante Smith-Pelly

Justin Durcharme – Danick Martel – Shawn St. Amant

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Sami Niku – Olivier Galipeau

Darien Kielb – Terrance Amorosa

Kevin Poulin – Louis-Philip Guindon

Tristan Berube, Corey Schueneman, Tory Dello, Alexandre Fortin

Lukas Vejdemo (upper-body injury), Alex Belzile (lower-body injury), Tobie Paquette-Bisson (undisclosed), Gianni Fairbrother (undisclosed), Josh Brook (lower-body injury), Jean-Christophe Beaudin (DTD)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

There was no doubt after Wednesday night’s game in Rochester that the Laval Rocket were looking for redemption to kick off this road trip. They dominated the Amerks in a stunning 7-2 victory, before hitting the road for Pennsylvania where they would take on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms for the first time this season.

Kevin Poulin was given the start in net once again, with Felix Sandstrom in goal for the Phantoms. Darien Kielb made his AHL debut when Tory Dello was kept off the lineup sheet.

First Period

The opening period didn’t start in favor of the Rocket, who looked a bit sluggish. Lehigh Valley forechecked hard in the first 11 minutes or so of this game, keeping Laval from even registering a shot on goal until almost the halfway mark.

Phantoms captain Cal O’Reilly opened the scoring when he picked up a puck off the side of the net and backhanded it past Poulin.

Not long after, Kevin Roy looked to have a perfect opportunity to tie the game on a breakaway attempt, but Sandstrom was able to beat the Laval forward. Roy got his revenge a minute later when he buried a shot short side.

Second Period

Five minutes into the middle frame, Rafael Harvey-Pinard tallied the go-ahead goal for Laval. The play was set up beautifully by Jesse Ylonen, who lasered a shot from the slot. Harvey-Pinard batted the rebounding puck out of mid-air and into the Lehigh Valley net.

The Rocket kept the momentum going when, just after the halfway point in the game, Justin Ducharme finished a two-on-one passing play from former Phantoms forward Danick Martel.

Lehigh Valley seemed to find their legs a bit toward to the end of the period, and started throwing more at the net. Logan Day closed the scoring deficit by another goal when he blasted a snap shot from the slot that went bar down and in.

Third Period

The Rocket allowed two more goals against in the opening few minutes of play in the third period. First was a goal by Max Willman who scooped up a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated it up the ice to finish with a wrister from the circle.

Then Wade Allison restored Lehigh Valley’s lead when, on the power play, he took a clean cross-ice pass from Linus Sandin and ripped a shot over Poulin’s glove. Three unanswered goals looked to be the undoing for Laval in this one.

This period was completed tilted to the Lehigh Valley end of the ice, with the Phantoms applying a lot of pressure in an attempt to snap a six-game losing streak. Despite their best efforts, the Rocket were not able to mount another comeback.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲ Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Kevin Roy, Terrance Amorosa

▼ Shawn St. Amant, Devante Smith-Pelly