Rocket Lineup

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

Danick Martel – Brandon Gignac – Kevin Roy

Justin Ducharme – Peter Abbandonato – Joel Teasdale

Alexandre Fortin – Jean-Christophe Beaudin – Gabriel Bourque

Xavier Ouellet – Louie Belpedio

Sami Niku – Olivier Galipeau

Darien Kielb – Terrance Amorosa

Louis-Philip Guindon – Kevin Poulin

Tristan Berube, Corey Schueneman, Tory Dello, Shawn St. Amant, Devante Smith-Pelly

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

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

Just under 24 hours after suffering a disappointing 4-3 loss against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where the Rocket gave up three unanswered goals late in the game, Laval was back on the ice again to round out their road trip. This time they were facing the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, visiting Mohegan Sun Arena for the first time since 2017.

Jean-Christophe Beaudin returned to the lineup tonight and backup netminder Louis-Philip Guindon got the nod to guard the crease.

First Period

Head coach Jean-Francois Houle has repeatedly preached the importance for his team to come out with a strong start in the first period. That did not happen on this night, as just over a minute after the opening faceoff Sam Poulin opened the scoring for the Penguins.

But Laval got that goal right back when Joel Teasdale tapped a rebound across the goal line about 30 seconds later.

Poulin, however, gave his team the lead again after cleaning up a rebound himself while driving the net through the slot.

All of that happened in the opening five minutes of play. Things settled down a bit after that, at least for a little while. Just past the halfway point in the period, Chris Bigras lit the lamp when he ripped a puck top corner blocker side. That goal was the third given up by Guindon on just six shots, and he was replaced in net by Kevin Poulin.

Second Period

The middle frame was a much more subdued 20 minutes of hockey, however much it was controlled by the Penguins. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton applied a lot of pressure, even forcing Poulin to come very far out of his net at one point in order to cut off a puck entering the Rocket zone.

Laval had a late-period chance to close the lead a bit when they were given a power play opportunity in the final two minutes. The Penguins had some good looks shorthanded, but Louie Domingue then mishandled the puck behind the net. The Penguins goaltender laid on his back to deny the Rocket a goal. The score remained the same, 3-1, heading into intermission.

Third Period

Less than two minutes into the third period, Laval’s hole got deeper when Alex Nylander deflected a puck shot from the perimeter and past Poulin while the Rocket were shorthanded.

Laval got that goal back on a power play of their own when Jean-Sebastien Dea fed Rafael Harvey-Pinard in the crease to bring the Rocket back within two goals.

That glimmer of positivity didn’t last long, though, when a turnover in the neutral zone allowed the Penguins to spring Felix Robert on a breakaway and beat Poulin with a quick shot.

Houle pulled his goaltnder with about five minutes left in regulation, in an attempt to give his team an advantage and find an opening to claw back into the game. Instead, Wilkes-Barre’s Poulin completed his hat trick with an empty-netter. The 6-2 loss was a devastating way to end a disappointing weekend on the road for Laval.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲ Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Jean-Sebastien Dea

▼ Louis-Philip Guindon, Olivier Galipeau, Danick Martel