It’s been a strong start to 2025 for the Laval Rocket, including a dominant 5-0 win over the Cleveland Monsters on Friday night. Cayden Primeau posted a 16-save shutout while Jared Davidson led the way with a goal and two assists to push the Rocket win streak to three games. Ahead of them on Saturday was a rematch with the Monsters in what was sure to be a testy affair.
Pascal Vincent made a few lineup changes to keep the team fresh in a back-to-back situation, with Connor Hughes getting the start in net. Zack Hayes drew in for Noel Hoefenmayer on the second pairing alongside Adam Engström, and Sean Farrell gave way to a returning Florian Xhekaj in the forward group.
While the game started a bit slow on Friday night, the Rocket seemed primed to jump out of the gate following their big win. Unfortunately, a lack of composure and the inability to count to five hit the Rocket early in the period as they took a too many men on the ice penalty, giving Cleveland the game’s first power play. While the Rocket kept the Monsters power play quiet on Friday, they surrendered a goal on the first shot on net as Joseph LaBate swatted a bouncing puck by Hughes on his near post.
The Rocket, despite the early goal against, were enjoying the majority of the puck control as the first period ticked on, and piled up a heavy shot advantage. Eventually their control of the puck allowed Luke Tuch to draw a tripping call and presented them with a huge opportunity to level the game. Instead, just 20 seconds into the advantage, Joshua Roy cross-checked Madison Bowey in the neck and cancelled it out.
The line of Laurent Dauphin, Davidson, and Xavier Simoneau combined for a few late chances, but Daniil Tarasov was up to the task, and sent the Rocket into the first intermission trailing by a goal.
Period two started with the Monsters on the front foot, pushing the Rocket back in their own zone over and over again. While shots weren’t making it to Hughes in net, the attempts were flying.
Eventually frustration bubbled up and Lucas Condotta took a seat for crosschecking. The Rocket penalty-killers did well to close down the Cleveland power play, and Xhekaj was able to goad Roman Ahcan into a retaliation penalty. In keeping with the trends, the Rocket shortly then cancelled out their own abbreviated power play as Owen Beck went off for hooking.
If that wasn’t enough penalties, the Monsters again cancelled out their power play as Trey Fix-Wolansky caught Condotta up high and took a seat for high-sticking. After a long stretch without generating much, the Rocket man advantage finally found enough ice time to create some chances, with Davidson ringing a shot off the post first. On the same shift, Filip Mešár grabbed a failed clearing attempt, but was denied by the quick pads of Tarasov.
Just as the Rocket looked to be gaining momentum back, Vincent Arseneau took down a Monsters forward behind the net and brought the penalty kill back out. Some big saves by Hughes and a continued strong effort from the Laval penalty-killers kept their deficit at just one goal as the original penalty to Arseneau expired.
While the Monsters were owning control of the puck, they couldn’t stop taking penalties as Hunter McKown threw the puck out of play. After a long period of stop-and-start power plays, the Rocket found their breakthrough opportunity and tied up the game. Engström fed Roy for a heavy slapshot, Tarasov kicked out a rebound directly to Beck along the goal line, and Beck instantly fired it low and Tarasov couldn’t recover in time to make the save.
In case you hadn’t received your fill of penalties yet in the second period, there were more on the way as Tyler Wotherspoon caught Fix-Wolansky up high, but the officials felt the Monsters forward embellished it just a touch and sent him to the box as well.
With the play at four-on-four, the Rocket skaters found their legs to end the period as Logan Mailloux skated laps around the offensive zone looking for an opening. While the period started off rough, the Rocket had managed to tie the game up and take some momentum into the second intermission.
The Rocket returned to their more typical form and were dominating the ice while generating shots in the third. Mailloux in particular looked strong as he sought out open lanes to put pucks on net, but Tarasov remained steadfast between the pipes to keep the game level.
The Rocket fourth line continued to be a menace to the Monsters as Xhekaj was taken down in the crease. While Cleveland swarmed him, Wotherspoon rifled a shot just by the post as the two teams came together. At the end of the ensuing kerfuffle, Xhekaj and Daemon Hunt were each given a roughing penalty and the play moved back to four-on-four again.
The Rocket refused to yield control of the puck, but the defensive play of the Monsters continued to deny Laval any follow-up chances. Cleveland did nearly find an answer to the Rocket pressure as Rocco Grimaldi snuck in while a poor change occurred, but his shot was pushed wide of the goal, allowing the Rocket’s mistake to go unpunished. It wasn’t long before Hughes then flashed the pads as Max McCue was wide-open after a rebound, but Hughes got over to deny the Monsters forward with an incredible toe save.
The Rocket had to make things difficult as the end of regulation approached as LaBate took a drop-pass from Hunt, and in response Filip Mešár chopped his stick in half. Once again, after allowing the opening goal, the Rocket penalty-killers locked the Monsters down, killing off the minor penalty with just over a minute left in regulation.
Laval managed to massage out the remaining 60 seconds, earning a hard-fought point in regulation against a division rival, and moved on to try to collect another one in overtime.
The Rocket looked primed to end things early as Engström found a soft spot in the ice and teed up Beck for a one-timer. Tarasov came up with a huge save as he came across his net to deny the Rocket rookie a potential game-winner.
Off of the next draw the Monsters chipped the puck out and Dauphin couldn’t keep pace with Owen Sillinger, who beat Hughes to snap the Rocket’s three-game winning streak.
Final Score: Cleveland 2, Laval 1 (OT)
Laval will head back home after their trip to Cleveland. On Wednesday night they’ll look to avenge an early-season loss to the Wilkes/Barre-Scranton Penguins.
