After completing a strong swing through New England last weekend, the Laval Rocket returned back to Place Bell for a two-game stint ahead of the AHL All-Star Break. They opened their weekend homestand against the Hartford Wolf Pack, whom the Rocket knocked off last Friday thanks to a last-minute goal by Logan Mailloux.
The lineup shuffling continued for the Rocket as they were without Xavier Simoneau, who joined Joshua Roy and William Trudeau on the injured list. In his pace was the returning Rafaël Harvey-Pinard on the second line. Jayden Struble had his conditioning stint cut short to replace Kaiden Guhle in Montreal, so in his place was Zack Hayes for Friday night. As expected, Cayden Primeau got the nod in net, looking to continue his torrid pace since joining the Rocket.
Laval got off to a quick start, scoring on their first shot of the game and avoiding some of the slow starts that had plagued them in other games. Owen Beck pursued a loose puck in the offensive zone, forcing a turnover that was scooped up by Jared Davidson. As Beck shifted to the front of the net, Davidson turned and fed him for a quick jam play that squeezed the puck by Louis Domingue.
Never ones to make it easy on themselves, the Rocket followed up their opening goal by taking a penalty after a turnover in their own zone. The Rocket penalty kill remained as steadfast as ever against the Wolf Pack, pushing them and generating short-handed chances, while also drawing a penalty of their own in the process.
The abbreviated power play yielded plenty of opportunities for the Rocket, first with Beck hammering a chance off of Domingue’s pads from the slot, then, in a follow up scramble, Laurent Dauphin smacked a fluttering puck toward the goal but an incredible reaction from Domingue kept the Rocket lead at just a single goal.
The Rocket did keep riding a thin line however, as Florian Xhekaj had a high, late hit on Brennan Othmann that sent the trainers out to check on the Wolf Pack player after he was slow to get up. While Xhekaj avoided a penalty, Zack Hayes did not as he was called for holding and put the Rocket short-handed once again. The penalty kill gave the Wolf Pack nothing in terms of space, continuing to force low-danger shots only as they killed another penalty off in the opening period.
Laval continued to play on the extra-hard setting as the period came to a close, with Alex Barré-Boulet taking his turn in the penalty box. Despite being short-handed once again, the Rocket were the team generating more chances as Laurent Dauphin’s speed caused the Wolf Pack problems, but he and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard could not find the finishing touch needed to add to the goal category. Their efforts did ensure that the Rocket would entire the first intermission with their lead intact.
Laval handled the final few moments of the Hartford power play with ease to kick off the second period, and then went right back to work at even strength. Laurent Dauphin continued to be a total nuisance as he rounded Casey Fitzgerald, spinning off him to put a chance on net that Domingue fought off in close. Laval’s relentlessness on the puck eventually forced Hartford into a penalty as former Rocket captain Alex Belzile took a seat for hooking Florian Xhekaj.
For every bit as strong the Rocket penalty kill was, the power play looked the opposite to start their first full advantage of the night. They did manage to find a few chances though, thanks to the incredible edge work from Adam Engström who dangled his way through the Wolf Pack penalty-killers, allowing Filip Mešár to create a chance that forced Domingue into a sprawling save.
As the play returned to even strength, it was clear that tempers were beginning to boil over as Xhekaj and Jaroslav Chmelar got into a scuffle in front of Primeau, resulting in penalties for both players. The extra ice seemed to favour the Rocket as they began to ramp up their zone time shift after shift, with the defencemen doing their part to pepper Domingue from all angles. Even Vincent Arseneau got in on the attack, forcing the Hartford defence to hook him to the ice, with a penalty somehow being avoided. As is often the case though, the next rush down the ice resulted in Noel Hoefenmayer being called for a hook and putting Laval back on the penalty kill.
To the surprise of no one, the Rocket penalty-killers remained a total blanket against the Hartford power play. Primeau made a few saves during the kill, but again was mostly untested as the period entered its final minutes. Laval’s fourth line chugged along after killing the penalty, drawing a late power play and giving the Rocket a chance to enter the third period on a high note.
With just a minute left to play, the Rocket didn’t create much in the early advantage, but would start the final regulation frame with another minute of power play time left to try to further their narrow lead.
The man advantage difficulties did carry over as the third period started as the Rocket struggled to find any real opportunities and continued to cling to their one-goal lead. Hartford began pushing for a tying goal, but Primeau was a brick wall between the pipes as he sealed off his posts against a pair of Belzile chances.
Hartford was matching the Rocket stubbornness at every turn as the game wore on, eventually drawing another penalty as Hoefenmayer went to the box for interference in the offensive zone. Laval’s penalty-killers went back to doing what they do best, flustering the Hartford power play, with Xhekaj drawing an even up call thanks to a short-handed rush.
With play at four-on-four, the Wolf Pack finally managed to capitalize on one of the few Rocket errors on the evening. Alex Barré-Boulet left a puck in no man’s land resulting in Belzile attacking the net with speed. Both Gustav Lindström and Engström got caught sliding out of position, allowing Belzile to skate around them and lift a backhand chance by Primeau to tie the game.
Laval did still have a brief power play to try and regain their composure following Belzile’s goal, but the first thing that happened was a turnover resulting in an Othmann breakaway chance that he pushed wide. In the unlikeliest of power-play combos, it was Zack Hayes putting a shot toward the net and Harvey-Pinard getting just enough of the puck to bat it down. Out of nowhere came Xhekaj, swooping in and lifting the puck home to give the Rocket the lead back.
With Laval back in the driver’s seat, it was Hartford beginning to pour the pressure back on again, and the Rocket were clearly content to try to weather the storm to secure two points. It did get slightly complicated when Hoefenmayer, while protecting his space, got his stick jammed into the face of Primeau, halting play immediately.
As the clock continued to tick away, the attacks from Hartford became more and more fierce, while the Rocket began to let some of their quality slip away as they missed passes or clearing attempts. Tempers continued to rise as Brandon Scanlin and Luke Tuch had a slight punch-filled disagreement after a whistle, leading to both players being given an early exit from the game.
Eventually the Rocket managed to corral the puck for long enough for Harvey-Pinard to push it ahead to Dauphin, who sealed the game with an empty-net goal.
Final Score: Laval 3, Hartford 1
The win ensured Laval lost only the one game in regulation during the month of January, and suffered just two losses overall. It was a strong month on all accounts for the Rocket, and they’ll get a chance to start February on the right foot as they meet Hartford again tomorrow at 3:00 PM at Place Bell.