Laval ended their trip out west with a pair of tough losses to the hottest team in the AHL, the Abbotsford Canucks, with just one goal being the difference in both games. Their road-warrior ways were not quite at an end yet, however. They returned to Place Bell for a few days before heading out to New York for two divisional games. First up on Friday night was the Rochester Americans with the North Division title on the line for the Rocket.
The Rocket defence finally got some much needed good news ahead of their game with Rochester, with both Gustav Lindström and Adam Engström back to full health after minor injuries. Lindström returned to the top pairing with Tyler Wotherspoon, while Engström joined the third pair with William Trudeau. The forward group remained the same as the last two games in Abbotsford, with the newly signed Tyler Thorpe and Joseph Dunlap waiting to make their debuts. Cayden Primeau was once again the starter, with Jacob Fowler making his first debut in a Rocket jersey as the backup.
With so much at stake, the Rocket were not up to the task out of the gate as the Amerks were first to every puck while peppering Primeau with a handful of chances. The Rocket were able to maintain some control of the puck, but their chances were blocked or pushed wide as Rochester counter-attacked.
Rochester had a chance to open the scoring as well when Primeau swatted a loose puck out of play behind his own net, giving the home team a power play opportunity. Laval’s steadfast penalty kill did well in coping with the pressure from the Rochester power play. Primeau was able to cleanly see every puck and gave Rochester no opportunities for second chances.
With a clean penalty kill in their pocket, the Rocket offence began to look a lot more like its usual self as the team began to cycle and generate chances on Devon Levi. While the Rocket pushed, the Americans weathered their attacks and remained patient for their chances.
Rochester finally found their chance and took it to solve the seemingly immovable Primeau. Vsevolod Komarov made a daring save on the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone, then fired a waist-high shot toward the net. Komarov’s shot beat Primeau, thanks to a deft deflection by Graham Slaggert who was occupying the slot in front of goal, and gave the home side the lead late in the first period.
While the Rocket responded well, they would end the first period still trailing by a goal. But they had a massive chip on their shoulder for the next frame thanks to Jagger Joshua. As the first period came to a close and the horn sounded, Joshua took a run and hammered Logan Mailloux from behind, drawing everyone on the ice into a tussle. While Luke Tuch turned around and cracked Joshua with a left hand, Joshua’s was the only penalty issued, giving the Rocket a power play to start the second period.
The Rocket power play came out with a strong showing, testing Levi with a number chances including a pair of deflections just in front of net. The Americans continued to smother second-chance opportunities however, killing off the Rocket power play and leaving Laval still searching for the first goal of the night.
That didn’t take long to find as the Rocket top line went out and did what they do best. Alex Barré-Boulet came barrelling in and stole the puck off Kale Clague’s stick behind the net, leaving the slot completely wide open. Barré-Boulet took a moment to find Sean Farrell, and Farrell paused a moment before ripping a wrist-shot into the upper corner to get Laval on the board.
Trudeau kept things moving in the Rocket’s favour as he drew a tripping call in the neutral zone and gave the Rocket a chance to tilt the ice in their favour. It ended up being exactly what they needed with the top unit of the power play pestering Rochester at every turn. Eventually a shot off the side boards got through to Levi, but the puck banked off the skate of Florian Xhekaj and allowed Laurent Dauphin to poke it over the line.
The Amerks responded to the Rocket’s newfound lead with pure aggression as they pounded Primeau with repeated chances while looking to tie the game up once again. Laval nearly turned that aggression against them as Lindström broke in on an odd-man rush, but his pass was swatted out of the air and turned into a rush the other way.
Despite not having numbers, Konsta Helenius barrelled into the Rocket defence, undressing Trudeau in the process. After dangling through Trudeau, Helenius pulled the puck to his backhand and lifted it over the shoulder of Primeau for a dazzling goal to tie the game up at two.
The pressure from the Americans forced the Rocket into taking a late penalty, sending Mailloux to the box. Before the penalty kill could even begin in earnest, Lucas Condotta joined him as he cross-checked Mason Jobst off the faceoff. In arguably their most impressive showing of the season, the Rocket managing to fend off both penalties, including Trudeau blocking a shot with his face and then limping into position to allow Condotta to escape the box.
It took an incredible pokecheck by Riley Kidney to keep the Rocket level with Rochester as the period came to a close, Josh Dunne broke in on goal, but Kidney’s defensive effort poked the puck off his stick to deny him a chance on net.
After 40 minutes, the Amerks had put 34 shots on Primeau, but the Rocket remained level with them with 20 minutes left to play in regulation.
Laval continued to make the most of their limited opportunities, regaining their lead under two minutes into the final period. Dauphin collected a puck in the corner, took a moment, and then put a perfect saucer pass across the zone to Noel Hoefenmayer. The Rocket defenceman settled the puck, then ripped a shot off the crossbar and in to put the Rocket back on top.
As they had all night, the Americans came roaring back to try to level the game once more, but Primeau was there to meet every opportunity with equal force and refused to budge on multiple high-danger chances. Despite the shot disparity, the Rocket defensively began to clamp down and give the Amerks absolutely nothing to work with inside the offensive zone as they ground down the clock.
Again, with Rochester pressing relentlessly, the Rocket made the most of an opportunity to double their lead. Condotta won the race to a dump-in, then flicked a pass into the slot for Jared Davidson. The winger charged in and put a shot on Levi, then buried the rebound to make it a 4-2 contest with under four minutes left.
As Rochester looked to get Levi out of the net, the Rocket refused to give them the time and space until a late icing call with 1:19 left on the clock. The Amerks never even got close to threatening the Rocket in the final 79 seconds, and Laval kicked off its weekend by clinching the North Division title.
Final Score: Laval 4, Rochester 2
Laval heads down the highway to Syracuse for a Saturday evening match with the Crunch. Jacob Fowler is expected to make his first professional start, while the Rocket will likely shuffle the lineup due to an injury to Vincent Arseneau.
