Badaboom! The Laval Rocket’s weekend series with the Calgary Wranglers begins with Filip Mešár scoring. Adam Engström causes a turnover on the offensive blue line and Lucas Condotta springs Mešár, who has time to deke the goalie inside out. Thirty-seven seconds in, Laval has the advantage on the scoreboard.
Only a minute later, Laval gets a power play opportunity as Étienne Morin takes a delay of game penalty. While the pressure is good, it doesn’t lead to any goals.
A lot of puck-watching from Nate Clurman and Joshua Roy leaves Engström playing the only engaging defence. In the end, Dryden Hunt is alone with Jacob Fowler and he evens the score five minutes into the game.
Florian Xhekaj gets a phantom slashing penalty, however it is Laval that scores with him in the box. Arsenii Sergeev loses his blade and leaves the net open for David Reinbacher, who scores his fourth goal of the season.
Aydar Suniev goes to the box, and Laval gets another power-play opportunity with six minutes to go in the first. Sean Farrell gets a good chance from in close, but Sergeev closes the door.
The next power play goes to the Wranglers as Tyler Thorpe gets called for a high stick, but could probably have been called a cross-check. Owen Beck springs Roy on a short-handed break, but the goalie makes the save to deny a second goal against his team’s power play. The Rocket take a one-goal lead into the second period.
Early in the second, David Reinbacher takes a big hit. While the broadcast had some technical issues and there was no live video, Reinbacher went to the room, and it didn’t sound like he would be able to return. At the end of the period, a recap showed the hit that knocked the defenceman out of the game.
William Trudeau can’t catch up with David Silye, and a pokecheck from Fowler goes straight up in the air. Clurman didn’t manage to pick up Lucas Ciona, which allowed the Wrangler to bat it in.
Calgary scores again shortly afterward as they convert on a forecheck. Zayne Parekh tees it up, and Suniev gets the deflection to throw Fowler off.
The Wranglers carry the momentum from the two goals in just over two minutes, with pressure applied since the big hit on Reinbacher.
Martin Frk and Thorpe are both sent to the box, more of a precaution than for an actual fight, to send the game to four-on-four. A parade of penalties follows, with Alex Belzile taking a tripping penalty, and then Mešár going off for the same.
Once again it is the Rocket that use the special-teams situation to score, Trudeau hits the defenceman on the Wranglers’ unit, gets the puck back and has an open net as Sergeev can’t readjust mid-stride. I really can’t really say it is a deserved goal, but the puck is round, and flat.
Engström opens the scoring in the third period with a great shot from the blue line. A head fake and a cross-seam shot as he drifts left makes him the third Laval defenceman with a goal on the afternoon.
Out of nothing, Laval gets another goal as Beck finds Jared Davidson in front of the net, making it 5-3. It was a smart play by Beck who read the situation well and placed the pass just outside the goalie’s reach.
Directly after the goal, Clark Bishop gets two minutes for a hit in the numbers of Josiah Didier. Laval goes to the power play, and then gets another as Frk trips Beck. The next man advantage goes to Calgary as Marc Del Gaizo cross-checks Carter King, but a minute later, Parekh takes down Laurent Dauphin and we have another four-on-four, before a short Rocket power play in a sequence of play spent mostly on special teams.
Engström counter-attacks by himself, but hits the bar in his bid for a second goal.
As the pressure mounts and the Wranglers pull their goalie, Fowler just continues to be calm and collected as he faces the push.
Final score: Rocket 5, Wranglers 3
Laval has a day off before concludes the series with the Wranglers, and the road trip, on Monday night at 9 PM ET.
Standout players for Laval
Adam Engström: A goal and an assist, and overall strong play.
Owen Beck: Two assists and you can’t really see him make mistakes at this level.
David Reinbacher: I really liked what I saw before he got hit, including managing to score. He makes all the small plays he should. We wait to hear how bad his latest injury is.
Jacob Fowler: Stood tall when needed. He was very helpful versus the pressure in the third period. I didn’t realize he likes to pokecheck so much.
Filip Mešár: The opening goal was nice, and well executed. I still think he drifts a bit in the offensive zone. He floats like a butterfly, but lacks the sting of a bee.
