It was a busy week for the Laval Rocket on the transaction front, not for many good reasons either as their roster was decimated by injury call-ups to the NHL. First was Jayden Struble, who was quickly joined by Mattias Norlinder, leaving Laval with just six total defencemen. The team was also without Mitchell Stephens and Philippe Maillet who were added to an injury list that already includes Emil Heineman, Gabriel Bourque and Lias Andersson.
Heading into a series with Rochester, the team added Nolan Yaremko and Alex-Olivier Voyer from the ECHL to supplement their bottom six, with Jared Davidson serving as a healthy scratch. In net it was Jakub Dobeš keeping the starting honours as he looked to build on a string of stronger starts.
With the amount of changes in the defensive structure heading into this game it was always going to be a sloppy contest in many ways, but even by those standards the Rocket had a bumpy start. Inside of 90 seconds, they surrendered both a partial and full breakaway chance to Jiri Kulich that forced Dobeš to be on his toes early on in the game.
While it was Rochester dominating the early minutes, the Rocket grew into the game, starting their own pressure against Dustin Tokarski in his own zone. Riley Kidney headmanned an odd-man rush, flicking a centring feed for Yaremko who was denied by the quick pad of Tokarski to keep it a scoreless game with just under eight minutes left to play.
The pressure, especially from the bottom six, finally broke down the Amerks’ defence, allowing for the game’s first goal. Olivier Galipeau kept a puck alive in the offensive zone, with Riley Kidney grabbing it in the faceoff circle. Kidney kept his head up and found Voyer in the slot, and the recent recall buried his chance to make it 1-0.
Laval kept its foot down, grinding down the Americans’ defence to hopefully create a second goal, but Tokarski remained strong to keep the Rocket lead at just one.
Nicolas Beaudin put the Rocket short-handed shortly after as he took down Isak Rosen who had a step on him heading in the offensive zone. That penalty kill resulted in the Rocket doubling their lead as Olivier Galipeau chipped a puck out, and Joel Armia was in alone on the breakaway, which he buried in the upper right corner with ease.
The Rocket had all the momentum tilted in their favour as the period neared its end, but a shattered stick by Brady Keeper resulted in Justin Richards getting a breakaway of his own. Richards calmly pulled the puck to his backhand and lifted it past Dobeš to make it a 2-1 game entering the first intermission.
Rochester took that late goal as a launching pad to storm out of the gates to start the second period. With Laval’s forwards and defence caught on a long shift, Rochester wore them down long enough for Brandon Biro to find a soft spot to score a game-tying goal with just over a minute played.
The goal seemed to bring back the tenacity the Rocket needed to begin grinding down the Amerks again in their own zone. The fourth line in particular did an incredible job at cycling the puck around the zone while shooting for low deflections and rebounds. Unfortunately for all their efforts they were stymied by Tokarski and Rochester’s defence blocking many of the chances on their way to the net.
Laval soon found itself back on the penalty kill as Joshua Roy was called for a cross-check while forechecking for a loose puck. Again the penalty-killing unit stood strong, keeping Rochester from setting up any sustained pressure while pushing the puck up ice for potential short-handed scoring chances. With Roy’s penalty killed off it was again the Rocket pressing for another goal, but Tokarski remained steadfast, doing everything he could to fend off a vicious cycle game from Laval.
Despite Rochester strong start to the period, it was the Rocket who seemed to have everything tilting their way heading into the third.
Just 30 seconds into the final period, it was the Rocket heading to the man advantage as Kale Clague was called for cross-checking behind his own net. Even with Laval’s strong presence in the offensive zone for most of the game, the Rocket power play struggled to generate much in the way of real threats on goal, and the Amerks escaped unscathed.
Laval not converting on their power play was a game-changing moment in the third period as Rochester wrested control back. Eventually Viktor Neuchev found himself facing Roy and Galipeau on a rush. Neuchev dangled around Roy’s defensive stick before flicking a shot by Dobeš to put Rochester back on top 3-2.
The Rocket immediately turned the pressure back on in their favour and soon found themselves rewarded for their efforts. The bottom six again came up big as Yaremko fired a shot off Tokarski’s pads and Nicolas Beaudin charged in from the point to bury the rebound to make it a 3-3 game.
The animosity and physicality continued to ramp up after Beaudin’s goal, leading to the two sides playing four-on-four for a spell with Laval spending most of the time defending on their heels. Even back at even strength it was the Rocket just weathering attacks by the Americans, but were fortunate to draw a second penalty for a late-game power play.
Just like the previous power play, the Rocket advantage never took off in the slightest, and the best chances fell to the short-handed team. In fact, a sprawling Dobeš was the only thing keeping the game tied as Rochester swarmed all over his crease as the penalty expired.
Despite Rochester seemingly smothering every Laval attack, the Rocket nearly won the game late as Nathan Légaré was sprung on a breakaway. He beat Tokarski clean, but clanged his shot off the post. That ended up being the last real chance as the two sides headed for overtime in the Flower City.
Laval nearly found the early overtime winner when Brandon Gignac tore off alone into the offensive zone before pulling up and centring a pass toward the net. Logan Mailloux stormed forward, getting a tip on the puck but he was denied by another incredible Tokarski save. Then things got tough as Sean Farrell was sent to the penalty box on a dubious interference penalty.
Rochester freed up Kulich on the ensuing power play and claimed the second point on the night. It was a valiant effort from the Rocket who were deserved a better fate.
Final Score: Rochester 4, Laval 3 (OT)
The Rocket won’t have to wait long to try to even up the score with the Americans as these two sides will face off on Friday night in Rochester once again.
