After a long off-season following a disappointing end to 2023-24, the Laval Rocket were back in action on Friday for the new season, visiting the Providence Bruins. The team has a new coach in Pascal Vincent, a new captain in Lucas Condotta, and several new faces joining the fray. The team was however, without first-round pick David Reinbacher, who sustained a devastating knee injury in the NHL pre-season.
Adam Engström made his AHL debut on the top pairing alongside Logan Mailloux, while Owen Beck’s debut game was on the third line between Jared Davidson and Filip Mešár. Florian Xhekaj took over fourth-line centre duties alongside Luke Tuch with the veteran Vincent Arseneau slotting in as well. Jakub Dobeš got the nod in net after a fantastic rookie season, with Connor Hughes backing him up.
Some of the old ghosts of Rocket past came creeping back in to haunt them early on as Chris Jandric found himself in the box for holding. He wasn’t there long as the Bruins’ power play cashed in with just 10 seconds gone by on the man advantage. Jordan Oesterle fed Vinni Lettieri and Providence cashed in on their first shot of the game.
Laval was unfazed, however, pushing right back down the ice after the goal and drawing a penalty of their own with a chance to tie the game. While the Rocket pounded shots on Brandon Bussi, their tying goal did not come as Providence survived the early penalty kill. The Bruins used that momentum to double their advantage as Oesterle dragged Joshua Roy out of position to tee up Patrick Brown, who beat Dobeš clean to make it 2-0.
The Rocket were undeterred as they cut into the Providence lead just over two minutes later. Logan Mailloux led an odd-man rush down the ice, flicking a pass over to Condotta in front of the Bruins’ net. Condotta got a swipe at the puck, sending it into the path of Engström, who backhanded the puck by Bussi to make it a 2-1 game.
Not long after that, it looked like the Rocket had found their game-tying goal thanks to a well-worked set play off the faceoff. Davidson swooped in to collect the puck from Beck and put his shot on net. Bussi missed the puck but was saved by the crossbar behind him.
The Rocket headed back to the penalty kill thanks to a Filip Mešár holding penalty. Laval’s penalty-killers made up for their earlier missteps, easily dispatching the Bruins’ power play to keep the deficit at just one goal.
From there it was the line of Condotta with Xavier Simoneau and Laurent Dauphin generating pressure at the end of the period, but Bussi kept the door shut, sending the teams to the first intermission with Providence up 2-1.
The Rocket pressure continued into the second period, with them eventually forcing Mitch Callahan into a delay of game penalty. The most dangerous chance of the Rocket’s advantage actually fell to the Bruins, as Oesterle beat Dobeš clean on a short-handed rush, but the Rocket netminder was saved by his goal post.
It wasn’t long before the Bruins handed the Rocket another chance, with Lettieri taking a penalty deep in the offensive zone. This time the Rocket finally solved Bussi on the man advantage, thanks to the selfless play of Davidson. The young forward carried the puck deep into the zone, dropping a pass off for Mešár who neatly tucked it around Bussi to tie the game at two goals apiece.
The Rocket onslaught didn’t stop there as the veteran second line went back to work on punishing every Bruins mistake. Dauphin sent Condotta in on goal from the blue line, the captain filtered a pass across the crease to Logan Mailloux, and the defenceman deposited his first goal of the year.
Then the shenanigans began in earnest as the Bruins sought out any possible way to get back into the game. First was Jeffrey Viel goading Luke Tuch into a spirited fight, with the Bruins veteran taking the decision with some heavy punches at the end of the scrap. Then Davidson was suckered into a roughing penalty as Frederic Brunet kept his cool while the Rocket forward was escorted to the box.
Laval’s penalt-killers smothered the ensuing Bruins penalty kill, giving Dobeš little to do as they held onto their one-goal lead. It was more than enough to give the Rocket a cushion heading into the third period in addition to a 26-8 shot advantage.
The Rocket dominance was ceaseless in the third and their lead soon grew to a pair thanks to William Trudeau. The Rocket defenceman took a pass from Mešár and cut through the heart of the Providence defence before calmly wrapping around the goal and tapping the puck home to make it a 4-2 game.
Even a Luke Tuch interference penalty couldn’t dampen the Rocket’s outpouring of offence. The penalty-killers and Dobeš combined to give the Bruins just one actual shot on goal while killing off the minor penalty.
To add further insult to injury, Mailloux put on a show worthy of being the goal of the year. Mešár kept a play alive and fed the puck to Mailloux back at the blue line. Mailloux barrelled forward, angling himself around defenders before roofing his second goal of the evening.
It was simply a matter of gliding to the finish, and the Rocket did that with aplomb, seeing out the 5-2 win while outshooting the Bruins 39-14. Despite a shaky start, the Rocket gelled rather easily and put together one of the best overall performances from the club in recent memory.
Final Score: Laval 5, Providence 2
The team cannot rest on its laurels for too long as it will head down the road to Springfield for a 7:05 PM clash with the Thunderbirds on Saturday night.
