After snapping their miniature losing skid last Saturday, the Laval Rocket hopped on the road for a Thanksgiving week trek into the United States. In the first of three games in Pennsylvania, they had a showdown with the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears.
It was going to be a big test against one of the other top AHL sides. It was made doubly so by the absence of Brandon Gignac who was set to miss four to six weeks with an injury, and also Joshua Roy who was recalled to the NHL. The team did receive a boost with forward Lucas Condotta returning from the NHL, and Alex Barré-Boulet being healthy enough to play. Gustav Lindström and Jacob Perreault missed out as healthy scratches, while Jakub Dobeš got the start.
The Rocket came out flying in the opening minutes, with the first line generating multiple chances on their first shift, but no goals followed. However, with the puck in their own end, the Rocket’s first error of the game resulted in a puck in their net. Zack Hayes failed to get a pass to his defensive partner in front of the net, giving Spencer Smallman a wide-open lane to wire one by Dobeš to open the scoring just over two minutes in.
The sides settled into more of a chess match following the opening goal, failing to really create much in terms of shots.
A Luke Philp offensive-zone penalty gave the Rocket a chance to even the score as the halfway mark of the period approached. Lucas Condotta came the closest to leveling the game as he tried to jam in a rebound chance, but Hunter Shepard’s toe kept the puck out and the Rocket off the board.
Jared Davidson followed the power play up by ringing a shot off the crossbar, which somehow spurred an odd-man rush the other way for Hershey. It was helped along by Laurent Dauphin tripping up a Bear, and handing Hershey a power play. With just over a minute killed off, Tyler Wotherspoon was also called for a trip, leaving Laval down two of their key penalty-killers in a three-on-five situation.
It didn’t take long for the Bears to strike with the two-man advantage as they worked the puck down low to the goal line. Alex Limoges fired one shot on goal that hit off Hayes’s stick, bouncing back to Limoges, who roofed the rebound over Dobeš to double the home side’s lead. Laval luckily managed to kill off the second minor penalty and keep their deficit at just two goals as the first period neared its conclusion.
Hershey handed the Rocket a golden opportunity to cut into the deficit with Dalton Smith taking a penalty for interference. The power play, usually fluid in its attack, struggled to find much space to operate and allowed Hershey to kill off Smith’s penalty.
The Rocket, however, weren’t to be denied as a loose puck in the offensive zone found its way onto the stick of Rafaël Harvey-Pinard. The veteran forward had stayed deep in the offensive zone and waited out Shepard to flick his first goal of the year over his blocker.
A late shift by the fourth line nearly tied the game, with Vincent Arseneau missing a spinning shot and Logan Mailloux’s late slapshot being swallowed up at the horn. The Rocket, despite spotting the Bears a two-goal lead, headed into the first intermission trailing by just one goal and having found their legs.
It didn’t take long in the second period for the Rocket to continue what they had started at the end of the first. Davidson landed a heavy hit in the corner behind the Bears’ net, drawing a crowd to him as play continued. With people focused on Davidson, Laurent Dauphin was able to lay a puck off in front of goal for Barré-Boulet, who neatly tucked in on the short side of the net.
The Rocket’s continuing pressure eventually turned into another power play when Limoges was called for tripping as Laval pushed hard inside the offensive zone. The Hershey penalty kill remained steadfast in its denial of the Rocket power play, killing off Limoges’s penalty to keep the score level as the game neared its halfway point.
Laval’s dominance continued as they had yet to allow a shot on goal with over 12 minutes gone in the second period, but an offensive-zone penalty on Davidson sent them back to the penalty kill. Laval’s penalty-killers squashed the Hershey man advantage without allowing a single shot to reach Dobeš, and escaped Davidson’s penalty unscathed.
The Bears did eventually find the gas pedal as Dalton Smith created a breakaway chance after Logan Mailloux fell down at the blue line. Dobeš denied the breakaway chance, but in the ensuing chaos Mailloux slashed a stick into two pieces, sending the Rocket back to the penalty kill. This time the penalty-killers weren’t able to fend off the Bears as Chase Priskie took a feed in the slot, then fired a shot off Adam Engström and in to restore Hershey’s lead. The late Bears goal sent the Rocket into the second intermission needing a strong, and composed, third period to mount a comeback on the road.
The Rocket responded with Riley Kidney being called for tripping along the benches, giving Hershey an early third-period power play. After allowing the late power-play goal in the second period, the Rocket pressured the Bears heavily on this man advantage, eventually drawing a penalty of their own. But before the Rocket could even get to their own power play, Engström was called for slashing, keeping things at four-on-four for a bit longer.
Laval escaped that special-teams period without allowing much on net, but still desperately needed a way to find a third goal. A knifing run from Dauphin drew a tripping call inside the offensive zone, putting the Rocket on the advantage. It took all of four seconds for the Rocket to find that goal, as Mailloux took a pass off the draw and powered a slapshot by Shepard to tie it up.
The tie didn’t last long as the Bears continued to show why they’re the class of the AHL year after year. A lengthy shift in the defensive zone resulted in Vincent Iorio finding a seam to thread a hard shot through on goal. Dobeš couldn’t track the puck through the bodies in front of him and Hershey found themselves back on top with less than half a period to play.
The Rocket tried time and time again to break through the stranglehold of the Bears, but that chance never came. Even when Dobeš headed for the bench, the Bears continued to fluster the Rocket, and eventually the speed of Ethen Frank blew by Mailloux to seal the game with an empty-net goal.
Final Score: Hershey 5, Laval 3
Up next for the Rocket is a Black Friday showdown with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before the team heads to Lehigh Valley on Saturday.
