The Laval Rocket’s opening contest of the season on Friday night did not go to plan for a side expecting big things this year. They fell 4-1 to the Manitoba Moose in a game where it was clear the team was not at their best quite yet. The good news is their rematch came swiftly as they squared off with the Moose once again on Sunday afternoon.
Pascal Vincent shuffled his lineup slightly with Marc Del Gaizo moving up to the top pair with Adam Engström while Ryan O’Rourke joined the lineup in place of Jacob Dion. The forward groups remained the exact same, and in net it was a first start for the year for the veteran Kaapo Kähkönen.
Looking for a better start than Friday, the Rocket seemed to have some of the same issues as they struggled to connect passes through the neutral zone to attack with any kind of speed, allowing the Moose to clamp down on them. While the shots were not many for either side in the opening minutes, Manitoba ended up with the game’s first power play as Lucas Condotta pulled back Brad Lambert and found himself in the box.
The Rocket penalty-killers continued a strong effort from Friday, with Alex Belzile springing Laurent Dauphin on a short-handed break. Dauphin blew by the last defender, drawing a penalty in the process that didn’t need to be called as Dauphin tucked the short-handed goal by Dom DiVencentiis to open the scoring.
Laval’s special teams closed out the rest of Condotta’s minor penalty, keeping their lead intact and looking to tilt the ice further in their favour at even strength. The Moose continued to plug up lanes and stifle the Rocket presence in the offensive zone, even if there was an extended shift for Laval.
A key chance to open things up further came when Lambert tripped up Engström in the defensive zone, putting Laval on its first advantage of the game with just under eight minutes left to play in the first period. Much like in their first game, the power play was uneven and failed to generate much sustained pressure, allowing the Moose to kill off Lambert’s penalty without much issue.
Just as the penalty expired the Rocket soon found themselves back on the penalty kill as Filip Mešár was called for hooking while battling for a loose puck in the offensive zone. Despite the protests from Owen Beck, the penalty-killers took the ice and looked to keep their lead intact. Laval was again in top form as it allowed only a single shot on goal and smothered any Moose attack.
The Rocket began pushing back, but O’Rourke, while having his own stick held, was called for holding to send the Rocket back to the kill to end the first period. While the Rocket handled the opening wave with ease, they had 82 seconds left to kill off in the next period.
A strong start from the penalty-killers allowed the Rocket to nearly tally a second short-handed goal, and then draw a penalty of their own inside the offensive zone in the opening minute. The abbreviated Rocket power play did not need long to strike and double the lead over the home side. Engström sent Joshua Roy ahead into the zone, with Roy leaving a puck off for Dauphin. He returned the puck to a wide-open Roy in the slot, who buried his second goal of the season.
An ill-advised penalty as the Moose swarmed Condotta for stopping too close to their netminder sent the Rocket back to the man advantage. Almost instantly another set play left Dauphin open in the slot, where he clanged a shot off the crossbar but not beyond the Moose goalie.
The Rocket advantage seemed to have found its legs, but the pads of DiVencentiis continued to be an equal match as he fended off the remainder of the power play. As the puck went the other way, a wide-open look for the Moose developed in the high slot, but a diving block from Xavier Simoneau wiped out a dangerous-looking opportunity for Manitoba.
With a two-goal lead, Laval began to look much more composed, and like the fluid machine fans got to see over the course of last season. But as the Rocket closed the gap in shots, they then found themselves back on the penalty kill as Simoneau was whistled for a cross-check behind the play. The Rocket penalty-killers continued their perfect form and kept the Moose off the board for the fourth time in the contest.
It was a fortuitous end to the period for the Rocket, taking advantage of defensive miscues inside the Moose zone to increase their lead. Dauphin was again the catalyst, driving deep into the zone to put a shot on net. Alex Belzile followed up but only managed to pull the goalie out of position. With DiVencentiis floundering, it was Sean Farrell who settled the puck long enough to bury his first goal of the season.
Farrell’s goal gave the Rocket a hearty three-goal cushion to enter the third period as they sought their first win of the year.
Laval spent the opening minutes of the third period almost coasting as they kept their lines clear and slowly chipped away at the Moose defence in search of more goals. A Roy penalty in the neutral zone put the penalty kill back to the test however with just over five minutes played in the period. Laval’s penalty-killers continued their clinical afternoon. Not only were they able to kill off a fifth penalty, but Beck tipped in a Wyatt Wylie shot to score a second short-handed tally on the day.
The Rocket turned around after their kill and promptly handed one goal back to the Moose as David Gustafsson threw a pass to the net and received a favourable bounce off a Rocket skate beyond Kähhkönen.
The Moose, also feeling charitable, sent the Rocket back to the power play with Walker Duehr taking a slashing call inside the offensive zone. Not for a lack of trying, the Rocket power play wasn’t able to add another tally despite Belzile and Engström directing an absolute onslaught on DiVencentiis while they were on the ice.
In what was becoming a stop-start type of period, the Rocket penalty-killers were called back into action again with six-and-a-half minutes to play with Wylie taking a seat in the box. After five perfect kills, the Rocket penalty kill finally broke just a bit as the Moose opted to pull their goalie for two extra attackers late in the period. A blind pass into the slot landed on the stick of Gustafsson who made no doubt about it with his second of the game.
With the game suddenly closer than expected, the Moose were able to get their goalie pulled with just under three minutes remaining, putting the pressure on the Rocket to punch in one last insurance goal. Laval’s strong defensive structure allowed them to weather the worst of the offensive push from the Moose. Eventually, Nate Clurman was able to hammer a puck down the ice, with Simoneau hustling to beat the icing and tee up Roy to bury the empty-net goal.
Final Score: Laval 5, Manitoba 2
The Rocket will now return home for their home-opener this week. They’ll welcome the defending Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks on Friday night. Puck drop is set for 7 PM ET, with an introduction of this year’s roster.
