The red-hot Laval Rocket were back in action on Wednesday night after sweeping through last week when they secured two wins over the Rochester Americans and one over the Syracuse Crunch to keep their spot atop the North Division. In front of the Rocket once more were the Amerks who were looking to avenge their 4-1 loss to the Rocket from Saturday.
The Rocket would be countering without Laurent Dauphin and Luke Tuch, with Dauphin falling ill before the game while Tuch was dealing with an upper-body injury. That doesn’t mean the Rocket were without some added firepower as Alex Barré-Boulet was healthy enough to rejoin the lineup, and Rafaël Harvey-Pinard slotted in on his conditioning assignment. In net it was again Jakub Dobeš, but facing him was Devon Levi for the Americans as he had been sent down from the Buffalo Sabres earlier in the week.
Out of the gate the Rocket came out firing with everything they had. Xavier Simoneau just missed Gustav Lindström at the back post, then Barré-Boulet just fired an open chance wide. The pressure continued from there as Sean Farrell worked his way into the slot where he then beat Levi clean with a shot, but found himself denied by the inside of the goalpost to keep the game scoreless.
While the Amerks began to chip away, creating chances for themselves, it was still the Rocket in the driver’s seat in the first period. Brandon Gignac created two chances off odd-man rushes out of nowhere, and then it looked like the game had its first goal. Lindström broke in down the wing and put a shot on goal, which Jared Davidson appeared to force through the legs of Levi. Farrell dove into the crease to swipe it into the net, but a lengthy goal review after the fact wiped out the goal due to possible interference by Davidson.
Following Farrell’s disallowed goal, the Rocket then found themselves on the game’s first penalty kill, with Logan Mailloux sitting for delay of game. It was a tale of moments both good and bad for the Rocket. First was Simoneau swiping a puck at centre ice and sending Florian Xhekaj in on a breakaway chance. Xhekaj made no mistake as he rifled one by Levi to put Laval on top.
Just 41 seconds later, the Rocket surrendered the lead as Brett Murray was given free rein in front of Dobeš. Murray tipped a puck on net, then banked the rebound chance in off of William Trudeau’s skate to knot things up at one goal apiece.
The strength of the Rocket’s top line gave them an opportunity to break the deadlock late in the first period as Barré-Boulet drew a hooking call. It was an unusually loose power play showing from the Rocket as their passes missed targets, and they headed into the first intermission still tied with Rochester.
The tie-breaking goal was not on the cards for the Rocket as the second period got under way; it was Rochester who came out of the break firing on all cylinders. Dobeš was sharp, facing a relentless onslaught in the opening minutes and having to swallow eight shots before six minutes had passed. Things didn’t improve much from there as Xhekaj was called for high-sticking right off a draw, putting Laval back on the penalty kill.
The penalty-killers were all over Rochester, allowing only a few looks from distance on net. Out of nowhere, they flipped the switch and went on the attack. Even in the dying second of the penalty kill, the Rocket were all over the Americans’ zone, ringing multiple chances off the post or just wide of Levi’s net. In the ensuing chaos, the Rocket drew back-to-back penalties, giving them a massive two-man advantage opportunity.
The Rocket power play was an absolute shooting gallery, but the quick pads of Levi continued to fluster the Rocket as they were unable to slide a second goal past the netminder. As the play returned to even strength, Josh Dunne was called for a dive and Gustav Lindström for hooking, moving the play to four-on-four.
The Rocket drew another late power play with Ryan Johnson taking a seat for boarding. While the man advantage didn’t convert to end the period, the Rocket started the final regulation period with 72 seconds of power play time.
The Laval power play remained powerless as the third period began, with it remaining a 1-1 stalemate inside the opening minutes. However, the Amerks’ lack of discipline reared its head with Tyson Kozak taking a seat for slashing as Riley Kidney attempted to skate the puck out of the zone. The frustrations carried over as Rochester killed off yet another Rocket power play, then after an extended shift in the offensive zone drew a power play of their own.
The Rocket penalty-killers laid it all on the line, with Harvey-Pinard, sans a stick, blocking multiple shots while keeping Rochester from taking a late lead. Even as the Rocket dispatched Jacobs’s minor, they soon had another to fend off as Adam Engström was called for interfering with Konsta Helenius on a dump-in. The Laval penalty-killers again fended off the attack of the Amerks, pushing the play back to even strength and setting up a tense final few minutes of regulation.
Before long the chaos that was simmering under the surface all night boiled to the top. First was Dobeš getting knocked over in his crease by a passing Amerks player, dropping him down to his stomach. While laying face-down, Dobeš sprung his glove into the air to rob a defenceman of a sure goal in one of the more improbable saves I’ve ever seen.
In the moments after that save, Jared Davidson and Kozak got their gloves off in a spirited fight, with Davidson gesturing to the crowd to get fired up as he was escorted to the box. The fight clearly got the Rocket heading back in the right direction as they nearly broke the deadlock in the final two minutes. Xhekaj fed Farrell a perfect feed in an odd-man rush, Farrell got off a ripper of a shot, only to be denied by the acrobatics of Levi once more. After 60 minutes, it was on to overtime for both sides, with the Rocket keeping their incredible point-collecting run intact.
The overtime period was very much one to forget for the Rocket as they spent 80% of it pinned back in their own zone until a great play by Adam Engström to delay for a few seconds allowed them a change. On that change, Logan Mailloux got tied up entering the zone, resulting in Lukas Rousek getting a free breakaway and burying it past Dobeš to secure the Rochester win.
Final Score: Rochester 2, Laval 1 (OT)
The Rocket now have a day off before kicking off a home-and-home series with the Belleville Senators on Friday night.