Laval’s western road trip continued after dominating the Manitoba Moose in Winnipeg to kick off the week. After a loss to Lehigh Valley, the Rocket needed a strong response on this lengthy trip, and they managed just that before rolling into Abbotsford against the hottest team in the AHL. The Canucks had won 11 straight games, despite a mountain of NHL call-ups depleting their roster.
The Rocket were once again without the services of Adam Engström and Gustav Lindström who were nursing minor injuries still, adding to the loss of David Reinbacher who did not make the trip with the team. Mark Estapa was withdrawn from the lineup after suffering an injury on Wednesday night, and in his place was former Canuck Vincent Arseneau to re-form the fourth line. In net, as expected, it was Cayden Primeau getting the nod for the game.
It was not an ideal start for the Rocket as the Canucks came out of the gates hot, hounding Laval for every puck and giving them the visitor zero space to make plays happen. With a patchwork defence, the Rocket also were slightly surprised by the attacking speed of the home side and Vincent Sevigny put them short-handed early on. Abbotsford’s power play was every bit as relentless as its even-strength play, forcing Primeau to make four or five major saves to keep the game scoreless as the Rocket escaped the penalty unscathed.
Laval got a bit of a break after their penalty kill with Danila Klimovich closing his hand on the puck and giving the Rocket their first man advantage of the night. Much like Primeau for the Rocket, Arturs Silovs was dialed in as he gobbled up second-chance rebounds and gave Laval’s power play units nothing. The Rocket’s man advantage did accomplish one thing, and it was allowing the Rocket to wrest control after a nervy start.
The game however, did come to a scary and immediate halt just past the midway point of the period. Noel Hoefenmayer took a big hit along the boards and was left shaken up as he headed to the bench. He managed to get there before an emergency of some sort brought the game to a pause. Players on both sides urged medical staff to the Rocket bench to attend to Hoefenmayer, eventually helping the Rocket defenceman back to the locker room. The team announced during the game that he had been taken to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.
After the game was restarted, the Rocket continued to be the more dominant side, but they couldn’t tuck a puck by Silovs to open the scoring. A late penalty on William Trudeau threatened to end the period on a sour note, but another strong penalty kill allowed the Rocket to enter the first intermission in good position with the game scoreless.
The Rocket came out flying to start the second frame and the red-hot top line was once again the driving force in an opening goal. Alex Barré-Boulet broke in, firing a clean shot on Silovs that pinged around in front of net, allowing Sean Farrell a clean swipe at the puck. That swipe sent it across the crease to Laurent Dauphin, who roofed his chance by Silovs to give Laval the game’s opening goal.
Laval’s immense pressure continued to wear down the Canucks, and after the officials missed a high stick from Jett Woo on Barré-Boulet, Sammy Blais took a slashing call and sent the Rocket back to the man advantage anyway. Laval continued the strong pressure, but both Jared Davidson and Filip Mesar found themselves looking skyward as Silovs denied them both at point-blank range.
The Canucks took their penalty kill as a springboard and started to find their legs once again as they kept the Rocket hemmed deep inside their defensive zone. While Primeau made a few strong saves, his post made the biggest as a deflected shot clanged off it harmlessly to keep Laval’s lead intact. Then, in a bit of providence, the Rocket went back to the power play as the Canucks threw one too many skaters on the ice during a change.
Laval did not get to enjoy all of their power play advantage as Logan Mailloux tripped up Jujhar Khaira to prevent the Canucks forward from taking off on a short-handed rush. Laval’s penalty-killers were again sharp, desperately fending off a fierce push by the Canucks. Then things began to unravel as Xavier Simoneau continued to pester the Canucks, so much so that Woo shoved his way through officials to attack Simoneau after the refs had stepped in.
Woo’s transgression against Simoneau handed the Rocket another power play, but the man advantage for the Rocket continued to be disjointed as the Canucks pressured them heavily. But as the penalty expired, a chaotic scramble in the crease forced a split save by Primeau, and a little help from Sevigny to keep the puck out of the net.
A cross-checking call against Zack Hayes to end the period meant that the Rocket had an uphill battle to start the third as they clung to a 1-0 lead after 40 minutes.
It was again Primeau pulling off an incredible pair of pad saves early on in the power play to deny the Canucks a goal, and from there it was the Rocket’s other penalty-killers grinding the clock down to free Hayes from the box. Shortly after that, Klimovich caught Mailloux up high with his stick, putting the Rocket back on an advantage of their own.
After two periods of struggles, the Rocket’s man advantage finally broke down the Canucks’ penalty kill and doubled their advantage. Tyler Wotherspoon threw a shot on net that Davidson caught a piece of, bouncing it around in front of Silovs. Florian Xhekaj was planted firmly in front of the crease and managed to swat it through Silovs, much to the annoyance of the Canucks goaltender.
That second goal became important very quickly as the Canucks looked to find an answer for the Rocket onslaught in the third period. Akito Hirose sprung free on an odd-man rush with Klimovich with Hayes trying to keep up. Primeau made the initial stop on Klimovich who was tied up by Hayes, but the puck slowly trickled in as Hayes’s skate directed the rebound under Primeau.
With a goal on the board, the Canucks began to push much like they had to start the game, which forced the Rocket to tighten up on defence despite having just five defenders left available to them. The exhaustion was beginning to show for the Rocket as the Canucks had all the momentum following Klimovich’s goal.
Sammy Blais eventually found a soft spot in the Rocket zone, worked his way toward the net, and tucked a backhand shot by Primeau to tie the game.
On the very next shift it looked like Dauphin was going to send the Rocket back to the penalty kill, but in the midst of his cross-check, he was elbowed and drew a minor for his trouble. The Rocket, without one of the best forwards, opted to play the four-on-four cautiously and worked to get back to full strength still in a tie. It was still all Canucks as the final minutes approached. Laval was constantly trying to clear their lines and the offensive push was all but abandoned as they defended for their lives.
A chaotic final few minutes saw both teams just throwing whatever they could at the opposing net, but neither goalie was giving an inch. Mailloux dug out a puck and held it behind his net to wind down the final few seconds, claiming another point for the Rocket as the sides went to overtime.
Overtime didn’t solve anything as the chances were minimal on both sides, with Primeau having to make only really difficult save as the game shifted to the shootout.
It was again a goaltending duel between Primeau and Silovs, but Woo snuck a shot under Primeau’s pad while Xhekaj sailed his chance over the net in the final round to give Abbotsford the second point.
Final Score: Abbotsford 3, Laval 2 (SO)
These teams will square off once again on Sunday evening, with puck drop scheduled for 7 PM ET. It’s unclear how the Rocket will address their potential defensive shortages, but it is expected that Connor Hughes will get the start.
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