The Laval Rocket had spent much of the last week resting up at home following a strong win last Saturday over the Rochester Americans. Their win left them with a 6-4-0 record, good for third in the highly competitive AHL North Division, trailing both Rochester and Syracuse. The team wasn’t idle during their break however, with Wyatte Wylie being released from his deal and the team opting to sign Josiah Didier to an AHL contract in his place. That deal means of course that Didier has now suited up for all three recent Habs AHL affiliates as well.
Head coach Pascal Vincent opted to keep his winning lineup intact heading into a showdown with Hartford. Owen Beck moved up alongside Lucas Condotta in a strong matchup line for the Rocket, while Tyler Thorpe slid down to fill out a truculent fourth line. On defence the pairings remained the same as Adam Engström and William Trudeau were on the top pair, while David Reinbacher anchored the second. In net, Jacob Fowler looked to build on his strong win over Rochester as he got the start.
It was not a fast start out of the gate for either side, as the two teams managed just four total shots on goal with 10 minutes played in the opening period. The Rocket were lacking some finesse on their passes inside the offensive zone, while the Wolf Pack’s shots barely troubled Fowler from distance. The best chance for either side in the early going in fact was Joshua Roy just narrowly missing a redirection in front of the Hartford net.
The Rocket’s sloppiness with the puck continued to be a problem as Nate Clurman misplayed a pass, forcing him to interfere with an opponent, and sticking Laval on the game’s first penalty kill. While the even-strength play was lacking, the Rocket’s penalty kill remained a finely tuned unit, shutting down the Wolf Pack advantage with relative ease to keep the game scoreless.
It wasn’t long before they had to put the penalty-killers back on the ice though, as Florian Xhekaj took an unnecessary roughing penalty inside the offensive zone. Laval nearly made it out of Xhekaj’s penalty unscathed once again, thanks to a few strong shifts from Condotta. Unfortunately, a rebound trickled to Brendan Brisson at the side of the net, and the Wolf Pack forward buried into the open net to give Hartford a first-period lead.
It was a tough opening frame for the Rocket, and as they headed into the first intermission they trailed by a goal and were being outshot 12-2.
The Rocket immediately hit the ground running in the second period after a poor opening 20 minutes. In fact they more than likely should have had a tying goal after a great backhand pass across the front of goal. However Alex Belzile found himself being robbed by Dylan Garand who made a diving glove save to deny his former teammate early in the period.
While the Rocket attack slowed after Garand’s miraculous save, they were handed a lifeline to get themselves on the board as Carey Terrance was called for holding Sean Farrell’s stick inside the offensive zone. Laval’s power play also remained red-hot as Jared Davidson made up for some earlier turnovers. Marc Del Gaizo left a puck for Davidson in the high slot, allowing the Rocket forward to walk in and rip his eighth goal of the season by Garand to tie the game up for Laval.
The Rocket’s lack of discipline came back following the goal however, with Luke Tuch interfering with play from the bench, putting Laval back on the penalty kill having just tied the game. Some strong work from Xhekaj allowed the penalty-killers to escape without much issue and kept the game even, until Belzile and Gavin Hain got into a shoving match, that somehow resulted in just Belzile going to the box when the dust settled.
It took all of six seconds for the Wolf Pack to take advantage of the dubious officiating as Scott Morrow collected the faceoff win in the offensive zone. Morrow walked the blue line then ripped a shot off the iron and in behind Fowler, leaving the Rocket trailing once again.
The baffling officiating continued shortly after as the Wolf Pack barrelled directly through Fowler, without a call in any form. The officiating crew must have known they made a mistake as Casey Fitzgerald was called for a cross-check on the next shift, putting the Rocket power play back to work. Pascal Vincent opted to lead with his second unit, with Davidson and David Reinbacher ripping multiple shots off of Garand’s mask, but neither being able to solve the Hartford netminder.
While Laval put together a much stronger second period, they again found themselves trailing heading into the intermission with the offence seemingly stuck in neutral.
The start was again quick for the Rocket as they struck inside the opening minute to find a tying goal and shifted some momentum back in their favour. Farrell sent Roy ahead into the offensive zone, with Roy passing off to Laurent Dauphin. The veteran forward spun, returning a feed to Roy inside the faceoff circle, and Roy picked the far corner over the goalie’s shoulder to tie the game up.
The Rocket were beginning to look more like themselves as the third period ticked down, limiting the Hartford chances while pushing the Wolf Pack back with strong counters. That however hit a small snag as Roy, on a play that looked onside, fired a shot as the whistle went, drawing a crowd and despite three Hartford players charging at him it was the Rocket ending up on the penalty kill once again.
Whether it be out of spite or pure talent, it was a penalty-killing shift for the ages by Belzile as he powered through the Hartford power play on short-handed chances, while Fowler held the line to keep the game tied.
Then, the tempers continued to spill over and again the officials proved they were not up to the task. Brennan Othmann, while swinging behind the Rocket net, went into Fowler directly, again without a penalty being called on the play. In response it was Rocket captain Condotta who came over, pummelling Othmann while the officials looked on and things only got wilder from there. Brett Berard was called for a hook, which he protested and that created another crowd. In that crowd, Derrick Pouliot speared Xavier Simoneau, and despite the obvious evidence he was just given a double minor while Simoneau was called for roughing as well.
With a four-minute power play, the Rocket made it count as they worked fast and effectively to take the lead. Farrell took a feed in the slot, pounding a shot on net and forcing Garand to spill out a rebound. Belzile was all over the front of the net, swatting home the rebound to give Laval a 3-2 lead as the final minutes of regulation approached.
From there, the Rocket were never going to give the lead back as they smothered any remaining attack that Hartford could muster in the final minutes. Even with the Wolf Pack pulling their goalie in the final minute, they managed to create nothing before Tobie Bisson grabbed a puck and chucked it into the empty net to close out the game.
Pascal Vincent, not willing to risk any further nonsense, put every heavy hitter he had on the ice for the following draw, with Tuch and Xhekaj deterring anyone from getting near Fowler as the horn sounded.
Final Score: Laval 4, Hartford 2
Laval will now hit the road, with a day off on Saturday as they travel to Ontario for a Sunday matinée in Belleville. Puck drop against the Senators is set for 3 PM, and it is likely that Kaapo Kähkönen will get the start in net.
