Riding a three-game winning streak, the Laval Rocket returned to the ice at Place Bell with a crucial weekend ahead of themselves. Laval sat just one point out of first place in the AHL’s extremely competitive North Division, trailing the Rochester Americans, their opponent this weekend. With a game in hand on the Amerks, a win by the Rocket would help put them in the driver’s seat for the final stretch of the season.
The team got a big boost on the injury front as Vincent Arseneau returned to the lineup, replacing Logan Nijhoff on the fourth line. Noel Hoefenmayer and Filip Mesar practised in non-contact sweaters before the game as well, giving the Rocket a much-needed depth boost. In net it was Connor Hughes getting the nod on Friday night, and opposing him was Devon Levi for Rochester.
Despite the two sides being the top teams in the AHL, the game started off rather quietly with the best scoring chance for either side coming from an Arseneau slapshot from the circle. However, a quick-thinking breakout freed up an odd-man rush led by Florian Xhekaj. As the powerful forward drove in to get his shot on Levi, he forced Zach Metsa into a slashing penalty for the game’s first power play.
Laval’s power play spent no time getting their attack going as they whipped the puck around the offensive zone with total confidence, forcing the Americans to scramble at every turn. The Rocket put shot after shot toward the net, but Levi, as usual, proved to be an extremely frustrating opponent as he fended off the man advantage. Laval was clearly stealing control of the game away as they dominated the flow of play after the power play too, eventually drawing another penalty in the offensive zone.
The Rocket’s second man advantage struggled much more than the first one as the Amerks began to close down more aggressively on the puck-carrier. The game was still tilted in favour of the Rocket, but Rochester was beginning to find ways to slow down the heavy Laval forecheck while Levi continued to be a brick wall in front of the attackers. Yet the Rocket refused to let Rochester fully into the game and their efforts drew a third straight penalty with just over a minute left to play in the opening frame.
Joshua Roy nearly opened the scoring as the period came to a close, deflecting a shot on net in the dying seconds. Laval remained without a goal heading into the first intermission, but they would start the second period with just under a minute of power-play time left on the clock.
The abbreviated power play yielded nothing once again, and this time the Americans took advantage as they killed off the penalty. A seemingly harmless shot from the point fluttered passed Hughes to give Rochester a wholly undeserved lead early in the second period. The replay showed an open Tyson Kozak in the high slot caught a piece of Metsa’s shot, directing it by Hughes.
The Rochester goal did little to rattle the cage of the Rocket who continued their attack without much change in pace, but a slashing call on Xavier Simoneau threatened to derail their quest for a tying goal. Laval’s penalty-killers had little difficulty with the first Rochester man advantage of the night, giving up just a few low-danger looks on net while Simoneau exited the box.
Laval’s inability to get their offence in gear would soon come back to bite them a second time in the period, this time with the Amerks on the power play. With Adam Engström sitting for a holding penalty, the Rocket were in a high-leverage spot looking to keep the deficit at just one goal. A quick passing play caught both Zack Hayes and Tyler Wotherspoon out of position and Mason Jobst buried a second goal by Hughes to increase the Rochester lead.
The response from the Rocket was instant and forceful as they finally broke through Levi’s shutout bid after going down two goals. The duo of Alex Barré-Boulet and Sean Farrell remained red-hot as they broke into the Rochester zone, with Barré-Boulet leading Farrell with a pass. Farrell, with a quick back pass, allowed Barré-Boulet to finally get a shot by Levi and got Laval on the board with just under six minutes left in the period.
Rochester answered Laval’s goal with a push-back of their own, but it was the Rocket still owning a heavy shot advantage as the game entered the second intermission. The big difference was Levi who had stopped 25 shots through two periods, leaving the Rocket a big challenge entering the final 20 minutes of regulation.
The third period mirrored much of the early first period with both sides not generating much that actually hit the net for shots. In fact, through the opening nine minutes of the period there were just four total shots on goal between the two sides, with Farrell’s short-side effort the closest either side came to a goal. Zack Hayes had a daring run into the offensive zone, drawing a tripping call in the process and putting the Rocket on a crucial power play.
The power play again failed to score, but the Rocket took the momentum from there and proceeded to railroad the Americans for several minutes afterward. While the Rocket had played with plenty of finesse all night, it was a greasy goal that uncorked a flood of goals. Wotherspoon worked the puck deep inside the offensive zone with Lucas Condotta latching onto it behind the net. As he circled he threw a shot on the short side that fooled Levi and tied the game with 12 minutes remaining.
Ninety-four seconds later the Rocket struck again, with the third line winning puck battles and getting to the dirty areas to wrestle the lead away from Rochester. Jared Davidson dug the puck out of the corner, feeding it to Xhekaj in the slot for an open look on net. Xhekaj’s shot rebounded right to Joshua Roy, who swept it home to give Laval a lead.
Less than a minute later the Rocket struck one more time to leave the Amerks reeling as the period neared its conclusion. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard worked the puck around the net, picking out Barré-Boulet in the faceoff circle, Barré-Boulet completed a strong night by blistering his shot by Levi and making it a 4-2 contest.
Rochester had no choice but to pull Levi early for the extra attacker, and while they pulled one goal back thanks to Noah Ostlund, the heroics of Hughes denied them their comeback. With multiple Americans in his crease, Hughes battled through them to smother loose pucks and secured the win to put Laval back into first place in the division, and the league.
Final Score: Laval 4, Rochester 3
These sides will face off for the penultimate time in the regular season on Saturday afternoon. Cayden Primeau will get the start for the Rocket.
League standings
