The Laval Rocket once again found themselves in another clinching situation. With a win in regulation, they would lock up the MacGregor Kilpatrick Trophy as the AHL’s top team during the regular season. Standing in their way, and still fighting for their playoff lives, were the Belleville Senators, in a game that was sure to be nastier than it needed to be.
The Rocket were dealing with a bit of an injury bug as they readied themselves for the playoffs, Connor Hughes, Mark Estapa and Vincent Arseneau were dealing with significant injuries. That meant Will Dineen drew in on the Rocket fourth line once again while David Reinbacher returned from injury in place of Zack Hayes. In net, it was Jacob Fowler getting the nod over Cayden Primeau after Fowler collected his first pro win over the Crunch on Saturday.
It was a slightly shaky start for the Rocket as they generated the first real look on net but followed it up by launching the puck out of play and handing the Senators an early power play. Fowler was a goalie possessed as he used his quick reactions, and his head, to keep the Sens off the board on their advantage.
Laval’s fierceness in pursuing pucks allowed them to draw a call of their own as they looked to open the scoring. The Senators’ penalty-killers clearly had studied the Rocket advantage intensely as they swarmed Alex Barré-Boulet and Laurent Dauphin, allowing the two leading scorers on the Rocket zero space to operate in. The only chance that came out of the man advantage was Reinbacher driving through the zone, but having his shot go just over the crossbar as the penalty clock expired.
The Rocket didn’t have to wait long for another opportunity to try to snap the deadlock, but the Senators penalty-killers were again laser-focused on the Rocket stars and killed off another power play. As things often do in these games, the nastiness started to ramp up as William Trudeau took a hit from behind, prompting Logan Mailloux to retaliate and take his turn in the box late in the first period. While the Rocket easily killed off the Senators’ advantage, Mailloux exited the box and instantly took a tripping penalty to give Belleville a power play to start the second period.
Laval’s penalty-killers were matching the Senators step for step as they dispatched the Belleville man advantage to free Mailloux from the box with the game still scoreless. Mailloux was then the catalyst for the next wave of Rocket attacks as he laid a huge hit at the Senators’ bench and prompted a three-on-one rush for Laval. Levi Merilainen made an incredible split save to steal a goal from Barré-Boulet, who was then cross-checked in the back to send Laval back to the power play.
Merilainen continued to be a brick wall even on the penalty kill as he reached behind him to swipe an Owen Beck chance off the goal line to keep the score tied up at zero. Beck wasn’t done creating chances however as he broke in on another rush and floated a perfect saucer pass to Sean Farrell, for Farrell to just miss getting all of as the power play came to a close.
The Rocket were struggling to find some even-strength balance as the second period wore on, with Belleville just turning every chance back into an offensive-zone shift or a dump-in. All it took for the Senators to finally break the deadlock was a mistake from the Rocket as they tried to once again clear their lines. Adam Engström was looking to rim the puck around on his backhand, but had his attempt picked off by Keean Washkurak. The Senators forward spun and fed Oskar Pettersson in the slot and the big winger buried his chance by Fowler to make it a 1-0 game.
Despite the scoreboard, the Rocket were more than competitive as the second period wore on, but their chances on net were few and far between as the Senators defence continued to form a strong shell around the net. A late Rocket power play finally rattled the Belleville cage as Filip Mesar worked into open space for a pass, then clanged his shot off the post behind Merilainen.
While the Rocket ended the period with a strong effort, they still had a goal deficit to make up in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
It seemed like the realization had begun to sink in for the Rocket as they came out firing on all cylinders to start the third period. Despite them throwing chance after chance on net, Merilainen remained an incredibly stubborn opponent and smothered every chance he could see. It was going to take some more of the unexpected magic that had come to be a regular part of the Rocket game this year.
They once again got it from an unexpected source as the fourth line broke the goose egg. Luke Tuch barrelled in after a puck, beating his man to it and suddenly having acres of space around him to operate in. Tuch then began to trip over his own skates while flinging a pass to the front of the net for Will Dineen to bury for his first career AHL goal.
Laval’s joy was short-lived however as the Senators refused to give up their playoff dreams without a fight. Against the flow of play, the Senators found some shooting space inside the Rocket zone with Jeremy Davies putting a heavy shot toward the net. Before Fowler could make the save, Xavier Bourgault got a stick on the puck to deflect it off the ice and over Fowler for the goal.
Time rapidly began to bleed away for the Rocket who were doing everything in their power to put a second goal by Merilainen. There was not another moment of magic as the Senators continued to smother the Rocket attack and kept their faint playoff hopes alive for another night.
Final Score: Belleville 2, Laval 1
Laval will have a chance to clinch the league trophy on Friday when they play the Senators at Place Bell once again. If this writer has done the math correctly, a single point on Friday night should lock up first place in the AHL.
