After the Christmas break, the Laval Rocket were back in action to kick off a three-games-in-three-nights stretch to end 2023. The first stop was a clash with a heated rival, the Belleville Senators. The Sens ran away with their last matchup, beating the Rocket 5-2 earlier in the month, but since then fortunes have changed mightily for the Rocket.
Returning to the lineup was winger Emil Heineman, who would occupy a spot next to Riley Kidney and Lucas Condotta. Captain Gabriel Bourque was withdrawn due to an illness, leaving him as a question mark for the next two games as well. J.-F. Houle opted to keep his winning defence intact, and gave Jakub Dobeš a well-deserved third straight start.
In a relatively quiet start for the two teams, the shots were few and far between through the opening minutes with neither Dobeš nor Mads Sogaard being forced to make a difficult stop. However, the smart work of Kidney drew the game’s first penalty and gave the Rocket a chance to take early control of the game. Despite the power play’s prowess showing in recent games, it clearly had some rust to start as the Senators fought off the two-minute minor.
The man advantage did have one positive outcome though, as the Rocket used the power play to take firm control of the game. Laval refused to give an inch as they repeatedly cycled deep in the offensive zone and continued to keep the Senators on their heels for several minutes.
Unfortunately for the Rocket, the first real sojourn into the Rocket zone by the Senators resulted in Jacob Larsson firing a shot through a screen and by Dobeš to open the scoring with five minutes left in the first period.
Things spiraled to end the period for the Rocket as Condotta took a high hit and responded by trying to fight with Tyler Kleven. Condotta was given a two-minute unsportsmanlike penalty and put the Senators on the power play. On that power play, the Sens cashed in on an ugly play where Dobeš wasn’t able to get centred in his crease as the puck fell to Matthew Highmore. Belleville’s centre was left open by the defence and managed to sweep the puck in while Dobeš had knocked the net off its moorings trying to get back. A short review confirmed the goal, leaving the Rocket in a two-goal hole heading into the second period.
Just 26 seconds into the second, Laval found themselves back on the power play after Sean Farrell was interfered with in the offensive zone. Two minutes later the score remained 2-0 for Belleville as the Rocket man advantage continued to struggle finding its feet.
Not using a huge power play opportunity to wrest control of the game back ended up biting Laval almost instantly. Belleville hemmed the Rocket in their own end and with the defence struggling to keep up, Josh Currie was all alone to clean up a rebound and make it a 3-0 game.
As the deficit grew the composure of the Rocket began to wane, with Riley McKay trying to line up a Senator for a hit and hitting them square in the head instead. McKay was accosted by Graham McPhee instantly before being sent off to the showers with a match penalty for a check to the head. McPhee’s penalty made it a four-on-four situation for a moment, but Laval’s ability to hold the puck drew a short power play as they avoided having to kill off most of McKay’s major penalty.
Laval was able to kill off the remaining minute or so of McKay’s penalty and shortly after it expired Bokondji Imama made the decision to skate into Dobeš well after the whistle had gone. Imama’s got a two-minute stay in the box and the Rocket went back to the power play.
The Rocket made this one count after the Senators decided to take liberties with their rookie goaltender. Arber Xhekaj calmly put a puck right into Heineman’s wheelhouse, and Heineman blistered it right by Sogaard to make it a 3-1 contest.
Laval nearly added a second as the period was coming to a close, but some timely saves kept the Senators’ lead at two as the teams headed into the second intermission.
With the Rocket desperately looking to add to their goal, the Senators set up in an ultra defensive formation, just chipping the puck out of reach from the Rocket forwards while keeping them from setting up any kind of cycle. Dobeš remained strong in net even with Senators continually skating through him after the whistle, but as the halfway mark hit, the Rocket still trailed by two goals.
The Senators did seem happy to put the Rocket back on the power play as the minutes wore on, with Tyler Boucher taking a high-sticking penalty in the offensive zone. The power play returned to its cold form, struggling to threaten the Senators while precious minutes ticked off the clock and the Rocket still trailing. Even with Dobeš on the bench for the extra attacker, it wasn’t enough as the Senators found the empty net to seal the game.
Then, as things often do in this rivalry, the tempers boiled over with Donovan Sebrango threatening Kidney and taunting the entire Rocket bench after being pulled out of a scrum. By the time things were sorted out, five players were handed misconducts and the game quietly saw out the final minute left on the clock.
Final Score: Belleville 4, Laval 1
Laval now heads home for a two-game series with the Syracuse Crunch, with the first game set for Friday night.
