Rocket Lineup

Anthony Richard – Brandon Gignac – Lucas Condotta

Rafael Harvey-Pinard – Alex Belzile – Jesse Ylonen

Gabriel Bourque – Mitchell Stephens – Pierrick Dube

Joel Teasdale – Peter Abbandonato – Otto Leskinen (seventh defenseman)

Nicolas Beaudin – Corey Schueneman

Mattias Norlinder – Justin Barron

William Trudeau – Tory Dello

Kevin Poulin – Joe Vrbetic

John Parker-Jones, Olivier Galipeau

Gianni Fairbrother (knee), Nate Schnarr (lower-body), Cayden Primeau (upper-body), Madison Bowey (upper-body), Jan Mysak (DTD), Danick Martel (DTD), Justin Barron, Xavier Simoneau (upper-body)

Game Report

Game Report written by Amy Johnson

After a record-setting Teddy Bear Toss game on Saturday that resulted in a dominant 7-4 victory for Laval, the Rocket took to the road this week to kick off a five-game trip away from Quebec.

The trip began Wednesday night in Utica with another matchup against the Comets, where Laval would look to put together their first back-to-back wins this season.

Justin Barron returned to the lineup from injury, however Cayden Primeau is still sidelined which leaves Joe Vrbetic as the backup goaltender for now. Pierrick Dube was recalled from Trois-Rivieres on Tuesday to accompany the team, and drew into the lineup on this night.

First Period

With Mackenzie Blackwood down in Utica on a conditioning stint, Lucas Condotta didn’t give him much time to settle into his net as he ripped a puck top corner just 54 seconds into the game.

After an unsuccessful first power play opportunity, the Rocket got right back to scoring when Joel Teasdale potted his first goal of the season. Anthony Richard fed him the puck off the boards, and Teasdale made no mistake as he snapped the puck quickly past Blackwood.

Laval soon got another chance on the man advantage, and then the scenario improved further when Utica took a second penalty to give the Rocket almost a minute of five-on-three power play time. Seconds later, Alex Belzile deflected a puck in close off of a shot by Nicolas Beaudin.

Even though the Comets found themselves in a 3-0 hole early, they didn’t let up on the pressure. Samuel Laberge broke loose on the second half of the power play, stayed with the puck on the breakaway, and put his own rebound into Kevin Poulin‘s net.

Second Period

The goal-scoring settled down significantly in the middle frame. In fact, through the first 10 minutes of the period, there were no goals or penalties, and very few whistles.

And even with a couple of power plays for Utica through the remainder of the period, including one about a minute before intermission, the score remained 3-1 for Laval with 20 minutes left to play.

Third Period

Things heated up again in the third period when Laberge seemed to have scored his second goal of the night. But with the net almost immediately coming off when the puck crossed the line, the play went for an extensive review by the officials. They determined that it was a good goal, and the Comets were within one goal of tying the game.

One minute later, Mitchell Stephens restored the Rocket’s two-goal lead when he parked himself in the slot, took a centering pass from Condotta, and quickly shoveled the puck past Blackwood.

The Comets tried again to mount a two-goal comeback, but it wasn’t in the cards. An empty-net goal by Richard ensured that the Rocket would indeed get a second consecutive victory for the first time this season.

What’s Next?

Plus / Minus

▲ Anthony Richard, Lucas Condotta, Kevin Poulin

▼ Pierrick Dube