After going winless in their first three games, the Laval Rocket looked to start a small winning streak after collecting their first victory on Friday night. They had dominated the Rochester Americans 8-4 on the back of a masterclass by Joshua Roy.
As expected, the lineup juggling continued as the Rocket worked through their roster, Filip Mesar was returned to the OHL and Riley Kidney drew in for him. Nathan Légaré was also slotted back into the formation with Joel Armia receiving a call-up to the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens. In net, Strauss Mann took over after Jakub Dobeš collected his first AHL win on Friday.
As things often do in games between these two clubs things were feisty right off the bat as Légaré and Tyler Kleven dropped the gloves just 21 seconds into the contest. Following the fight it was the Senators taking an early lead as George McPhee bolted into the offensive and fired a shot by the glove of Strauss Mann to give Belleville the lead.
Even as Laval matched the Senators shot for shot in the first period, the Rocket were struggling to find clean looks or follow-up chances around the net. Those missed chances eventually came back to bite them as the Senators capitalized on a defensive miscue. Logan Mailloux went to line up Zack MacEwen for a hit, but didn’t catch enough to deter the Sens forward. MacEwen snapped a shot over Mann’s glove to double Belleville’s lead.
The Rocket were not going to wilt under the pressure of a two-goal deficit, and finally managed to chip away at the lead. Brandon Gignac took a pass from Xavier Simoneau to break into the offensive zone and quickly snapped off a shot. Mads Sogaard got a piece of the puck, but not enough to slow it down as Gignac collected his second goal of the season.
It gave Laval a much-needed boost heading into the break, and hopefully enough momentum for a big second period like the previous night.
A fast start is exactly what Laval got in the second period, hemming the Senators deep in their zone for the opening 90 seconds as they peppered Sogaard with all sorts of shots. Eventually they found a breakthrough, and it was another first for the Rocket. William Trudeau fed a pass to Jayden Struble along the blue line, and Struble walked to an open lane, wiring his first professional goal into the net.
The lead was incredibly short-lived for Laval as the Senators scored almost instantly off the faceoff. A loose puck clanged off of Zack Ostapchuk’s skate, fooling Mann at his post and putting the Rocket back down by a goal.
After a quick start for both sides, the teams began trading penalties back and forth. First was Dillon Heatherington taking a cross-checking penalty before getting into a tussle with Xavier Simoneau. Before Heatherington could exit the box Angus Crookshank joined him after a high-sticking call. Laval wasn’t able to to convert on its advantages, and soon found itself on the opposite foot with Struble in the box.
As his penalty was set to expire, Riley McKay hammered a Senators player in the numbers, sparking another fight and another penalty kill for the Rocket. Mann and the special-teams group locked it down, keeping the Senators from adding to their lead as the game passed its halfway point.
It looked like the Rocket were set to take control of the game after the huge penalty kill, but one small error turned it back into a two-goal hole. Struble was stripped of the puck along the blue line, leading to an odd-man rush for the Senators. Mattias Norlinder did well to take away the the shooting lane, but Brennan Saulnier was able to get just enough of the loose puck to make it a 4-2 game.
The Rocket were able to wrest a manner of control back to end the period, but weren’t able to find another late goal, and faced a big two-goal deficit heading into the final period.
Period three began much like the previous one, with the Rocket coming out fast and finding a goal inside the first 90 seconds to cut into the Belleville lead. Sean Farrell dropped a pass for Joshua Roy inside the offensive zone. Roy quickly dished a pass into the slot for Mailloux, and the big defenceman wired it top shelf for his first professional goal.
The goal from Mailloux brought the Rocket back into the driver’s seat of the game as they continued to keep Belleville trapped in their own zone. Eventually that pressure led Cole Reinhardt to take a frustration penalty for roughing, handing the Rocket a chance at the tying goal.
Laval’s power play continued to be a struggle and they weren’t able to find a tying goal. Then, as rivalry games often do, things got extremely chippy as Lias Andersson and Lassi Thomson were sent to the box for a tussle in front of net. Not long after they exited, it was McKay coming to the defence of his goalie after Saulnier slashed Mann after the whistle.
Belleville returned their lead to two goals when MacEwen spun to fire a low shot along the ice, Mann misread the shot and wasn’t able to kick his pad far enough over to make the save.
It was going to come to the final moments again to see if the Rocket were able to pull a rabbit out of their hat. They managed to get at one back, with Joshua Roy setting up Lias Andersson working around the goal crease once again. Andersson snagged the puck and chipped one by Sogaard to make it a one-goal contest.
There wasn’t a miracle to be had for Laval, though, as the Senators were able to weather one last Rocket push to secure the win and leave Laval at square one again.
Final Score: Belleville 5, Laval 4
Laval is now off for the next week, and will be back next Friday when they travel to Rochester for another game with the Americans at 7:00 PM.
