The Laval Rocket spent Tuesday night battling the Abbotsford Canucks tooth-and-nail en route to a 4-3 win in regulation that helped snap a losing skid. Laval snagged a much-needed win thanks to a pair of goals by Sean Farrell, and a game-winning tally by Florian Xhekaj with just 13 seconds left to play. The Rocket were unable to rest on their laurels for too long, as on Wednesday night they squared in a rematch with the Canucks.
With such a quick turnaround the Rocket didn’t make many changes to their lineup, but still altered their winning group just slightly. Luke Tuch dropped to the fourth line, with Florian Xhekaj moving up to centre Lucas Condotta and Filip Mešár, while Will Dineen replaced Vincent Arseneau. In net it was Kaapo Kähkönen as expected, and the defensive lineup remained the same.
While the Rocket came out as the more aggressive team on Tuesday, the Canucks came out with a point to prove on Wednesday. Nils Aman forced David Reinbacher into a turnover that allowed the Abbotsford top line to set up shop. While the Canucks were all over the puck around Kähkönen’s net, they could not find the final touch needed to squeak a puck over the line to open the scoring. After weathering the early storm, it was the Rocket’s top line that turned the game around as Alex Belzile and Sean Farrell both put multiple dangerous looks on net, but Nikita Tolopilo kept them at bay.
With the offence seemingly clicking into gear, the Rocket turned the offensive zone into a shooting gallery, but just barely missed on opening the scoring as Tolopilo swallowed up any second opportunities. At the other end, the Canucks took advantage of the Rocket’s aggression and created their own odd-man rushes, but Arshdeep Bains missed a tap-in goal as the puck hopped over his stick.
While the Rocket kept the pressure on, they were again able to draw the game’s first power play as David Reinbacher found himself hooked during a battle for a loose puck. Laval took full advantage of the power-play opportunity as Laurent Dauphin corralled a loose puck and played it across the zone to Joshua Roy. The Rocket winger played the bouncing puck off a hop, and smacked it by Tolopilo to open the scoring.
A late push by the Canucks went for naught, leaving the Rocket in the lead heading into the first intermission in Abbotsford.
Laval continued to put the pressure on as the second period began, but the Canucks were there to match them shift for shift, including the Rocket’s fourth line getting hemmed in for a lengthy shift. Just as Laval began to relieve the pressure from Abbotsford, a mistimed pass by Reinbacher forced Xhekaj to take a hooking call and put the penalty-killers to the test.
Much like the previous night, the penalty-killers could not put together a full two-minute kill as the Canucks struck on just their fifth shot on goal. Josiah Didier was left in the dust by Danila Klimovich, creating a wide-open lane to the net, and a loose puck fell to Ty Mueller who lifted it by Kähkönen.
While the Rocket continued to dominate the shot clock and puck possession, a tripping call by Marc Del Gaizo put the Rocket penalty-killers on the ice. The man advantage instantly became a five-on-three as Adam Engström cleared the puck so strongly it went out of play behind the Canucks’ net, and he went to the box for delay of game. Against a red-hot power play, and down two defenders, the Rocket improbably escaped without allowing a single shot on goal, and kept the game level.
With penalties being the only way that the Canucks were able to generate pressure, the Rocket began to approach the game a bit more tentatively. They were able to end the period still having outshot the Canucks, but the game itself was level heading into the second intermission.
Right out of the gate in the third period the Rocket found themselves again on the penalty kill as Engström overpowered Lukas Reichel along the boards and for his troubles was sent to the box for tripping. After a shaky start to the game, the Rocket penalty-killers again put on a clinic as they allowed just one shot on net as Engström exited the box with the game still tied 1-1.
A strong follow-up shift after the kill by Reinbacher drew a call in favour of Laval, giving their power play an opportunity to break the game open once again. Abbotsford’s penalty-killers did a commendable job at shutting down the Rocket man advantage, giving Joshua Roy and Farrell zero space to operate with the puck as the power play expired. As the play shifted back to even strength, Jujhar Khaira ran into Kähkönen behind the net, prompting Rocket captain Lucas Condotta to drop the gloves with him in a brief fight.
The game then settled in to the two sides alternating long shifts and missed chances inside the offensive zone. Roy continued to put chance after chance toward the net, while the Canucks and Jonathan Lekkerimaki whistled a few looks just wide of net. The physicality was not absent either as the period ticked on. Will Dineen buried Nils Aman on the boards, drawing the ire of Cole Clayton and a spirited fight ensued.
On the next shift, Laval did not make things any easier on themselves as William Trudeau was sent to the box for holding and left the Rocket in a crucial spot to kill his penalty late in regulation. The penalty-killers for the Rocket came out aggressive, with Owen Beck forcing Tolopilo into a poor pass behind his net, and Laurent Dauphin was able to grab the loose puck and just sail his chance over the net. The Rocket were able to kill off Trudeau’s penalty and kept their hopes of a win intact.
There was not a last-second winner in the cards for the Rocket on Wednesday however, as the Canucks held on to force overtime despite the Rocket outshooting them heavily. The Rocket never even got a chance in overtime as Jonathan Lekkerimaki circled around Alex Belzile and uncorked a wicked wrist shot that Kähkönen never had a chance at.
Final Score: Abbotsford 2, Laval 1 (OT)
Laval now continues its trek through Western Canada. The Rocket will head to Calgary next for a two-game series with the Wranglers. The first game will take place Saturday, with puck drop set for 2 PM ET.
