After a frustrating road trip that saw the Rocket take just three points out of the six available, the team returned home to the confines of Place Bell to start another homestand. Head coach J.-F. Houle again shuffled some lines and pairings around due in part to injuries and also to try to shake the team out of its 3-6-1 form over the previous 10 games.
Laval did catch a small break as Pierrick Dubé was recalled by the Washington Capitals for his first NHL game, forcing him to skip out on his first return to Laval after signing with the Caps in the off-season. Jakub Dobeš again took the starting role in net for the Rocket, while Hunter Shepard got the nod for the Hershey Bears.
Things started fast with Riley McKay launching a Bears player into the air in front of the Hershey net, snapping his stick in the process. That was rapidly followed by a breakaway chance for Hershey that forced William Trudeau to grab hold of Mike Vecchione, surrendering a penalty shot. Dobeš was dialed in the whole way on Vecchione’s attempt, making a quick pad save to deny the Hershey forward.
The sides then decided to turn the game into an all-special-teams affair, with the Rocket heading to the game’s first power play before then heading to a penalty kill of their own after failing to cash in on their advantage. Laval’s penalty-killers snuffed out the Bears’ power play, keeping them from registering a single shot on net and keeping the game scoreless before the Rocket again headed back to the power play.
This time the Rocket power play hammered the Bears’ penalty-killers over and over as the puck was kept deep in the offensive zone. Eventually the puck was poked loose, right to Philippe Maillet outside the slot. Maillet grabbed the puck and waited for his lane to open up before ripping a shot by Shepard to open the scoring.
The Rocket doubled their lead in the final two minutes of the opening period. Lias Andersson darted into the offensive zone, then flicked a pass over to Jared Davidson, with the rookie forward sneaking it through Shepard’s five-hole to make it a 2-0 contest heading into the first intermission.
After dominating the opening 20 minutes of the game, the Rocket found themselves on the back foot starting the second period as the Bears came out firing on all cylinders. Dobeš had to be sharp, keeping the Rocket lead intact, until the Bears eventually went to their second power play of the night. Ivan Miroshnichenko first hammered a shot off the left post behind Dobeš, and then followed it up by rifling the next pass he received by a sprawling Dobeš to get Hershey on the board.
Laval struggled to keep up with the Bears’ intense pressure, failing again and again to exit their zone under pressure, eventually resulting in a Riley Kidney delay of game call, and another penalty kill. This time, Laval’s penalty-killers returned to their aggressive form, giving the Bears nothing to work with and keeping the Rocket lead intact as the period passed the halfway mark.
The Rocket never really found their legs as the period wound down to it’s closing seconds, and the Bears took advantage of Laval’s mistakes to keep them pinned back. Thankfully, Dobeš remained up to the task, allowing the Rocket to escape the second period still leading by a goal.
Laval’s defensive-zone woes finally caught up with them early in the third period as the Bears continued to counter-attack. Bogdan Trineyev stormed into the zone, dangling around Olivier Galipeau before neatly tucking a second Hershey goal past Dobeš to level the score just under two minutes in.
Chances from there became fewer and fewer as the two sides switched into a more conservative form of attack. Even a Rocket power play yielded few chances, the best of which was a Maillet shot at an empty net that was saved by the back of a Bears defender. Neither side managed another breakthrough as the third period sped by, and for a second game in a row the Rocket headed to overtime.
Overtime saw the Rocket dominate control of the puck, holding onto it for nearly 90% of the extra period and not letting the Bears so much as sniff control at all. However, even with the time on the puck, the Rocket were unable to find a gap in the Hershey defence, and the game moved to a shootout.
It was again Dobeš stealing the show in the shootout as he fended off all three Hershey shooters. Logan Mailloux blistered a wrist shot by Shepard to secure a huge second point for the Rocket.
It’s a sorely needed win for the Rocket after a tough weekend on the road and allows them to keep pace with the Toronto Marlies for the last North Division playoff spot.
Final Score: Laval 3, Hershey 2 (SO)
Laval now faces arguably their biggest weekend of the season so far when they welcome the Toronto Marlies to Place Bell for a two-game series, with game one set for Friday night at 7:00 PM.
