After clinching a playoff berth on Wednesday night, the Laval Rocket returned to the ice at Place Bell as they began their march toward securing another division title. In front of them were the Springfield Thunderbirds on Murder Mystery Night at Place Bell.
While Pascal Vincent kept his forward lines the same, partially due to limited reserves with the continued absence of Laurent Dauphin, he did make one change on defence. While Josh Jacobs had been a reliable veteran presence on the Rocket third pair, he would secede his spot to the newly signed Luke Mittelstadt. The Minnesota Golden Gopher alum slotted in next to Nate Clurman for the evening, and in net it was again Kaapo Kähkönen getting the start.
After a dreadfully slow start on Wednesday, the Rocket made sure to not repeat the same mistakes as they jumped out to an early 5-0 shot advantage. Even as Springfield pushed back, Kähkönen smothered any pucks to deny a second-chance opportunity.
Vincent’s insistence on keeping his lineup the same paid off, as Vincent Arseneau was approached by Kale Kessy on a face-off to throw down, with Arseneau obliging him. The Rocket enforcer dispatched Kessy with a strong punch, then after switching his grip delivered another two in rapid succession for the knockout victory.
Unfortunately for Mittelstadt, his first shifts at the pro level came with a learning curve as the Thunderbirds took advantage of his freshness for the game’s opening goal. Thomas Bordeleau cut around him to put a shot on net, and as Mittelstadt tried to chase down a rebound he allowed Hunter Skinner acres of space to put in the loose puck.
The game continued its oddly nasty tone as Chris Wagner hit David Reinbacher in the numbers and appeared to hit Owen Beck low in the neutral zone afterward. Wagner was finally sent to the box after he caught Jared Davidson with a stick up high, but not before Florian Xhekaj came over to give him a few words of discouragement. Laval’s power play unfortunately did little to help turn the tide as the Thunderbirds picked off passes with ease and killed off their minor penalty.
To make matters worse, after a thunderous hit by Xhekaj, Filip Mešár’s attempt to move the puck along resulted in a double-minor for high-sticking and put the Rocket in a dangerous situation late in the first period. Laval’s penalty-killers did a nearly perfect job as they battled through the four-minute penalty kill, and in the end drew back-to-back calls of their own, making for a rare four-on-three power play.
As Mešár exited the box to make it a brief five-on-three, the Rocket converted to tie the game after missing a mountain of chances earlier. Sean Farrell working along the wall, moved the puck up to Joshua Roy at the goal line, and Roy spun and put a pass right on the stick of Sammy Blais to tap home.
With the remaining time left on the power play the Rocket nearly took the lead, but Roy held his shot a touch too long and was denied as the first period came to a close.
The man advantage didn’t have a ton of time to work with to begin the period, and outside of a chance by Alex Belzile they didn’t generate much as the play moved back to five-on-five. Back at even strength, all of the flow of the first period was completely gone as both sides struggled to connect passes or get any clean looks on net as the period trudged forward.
For the Rocket however, it took only one small opening for their offence to strike and put them in the lead. Reinbacher executed a perfect breakout pass, sending Mešár ahead into the offensive zone, with the Slovak leaving the puck off for Beck. The Rocket centre quickly shifted a pass across the zone to Davidson, and Davidson’s long-range effort found the back of the net for a 2-1 Laval lead.
While the Rocket had taken the lead, some momentary lapses with the puck resulted in Clurman taking another penalty and putting the penalty kill back out on the ice. Laval’s penalty-killers again handled the Springfield man advantage with ease, and some snarl as Reinbacher and Thomas Bordeleau got into it after the whistle and each took a two-minute break in the box.
Tempers continued to simmer throughout the period as the Rocket looked to increase their lead. Just as the fourth line started to generate some pressure, it was Luke Tuch throwing his gloves off with Quinton Burns. While not a win like Arseneau’s earlier scrap, it was clear the Rocket were not going to let their opponents dictate how the game was played.
A pair of late looks by Blais and Belzile found the outside of the iron, but heading into the second intermission it was the Rocket still leading by a goal.
After two testy periods, it was a rather quiet beginning to the final period of regulation, with both sides struggling to find offensive-zone space. Instead of beating their heads against the wall, the Rocket used active sticks and great timing to create their own space and chances. Beck picked off a pass heading into the offensive zone, giving him and Mešár an odd-man rush in the other direction. Beck perfectly weighted a pass around the defender, which allowed Mešár to bury the chance and make it a 3-1 game.
Even with a multi-goal lead, the Rocket offence continued to poke and probe trying to increase that advantage, and the quick feet of Mešár drew a penalty with a chance to secure a much-needed insurance goal. It wasn’t for a lack of trying, but the Rocket power play struck out again with a chance to put the game out of reach.
Blais continued to prove his worth as he managed to even up a penalty being called on himself by having Bordeleau also drag him to the ice afterward. While nothing came out of the four-on-four period, the Rocket being unable to clear their lines led to Springfield embellishing a pokecheck by Reinbacher enough to draw a tripping penalty.
Again, the Rocket penalty-killers were locked in at every turn, giving the Thunderbirds nothing to work with as they pushed over and over again. Eventually, with their goalie on the bench and a two-man advantage it was a heroic effort by Xhekaj to score a short-handed empty-net goal to put the game fully on ice.
While their opponents were clearly looking for a scrap to end the game, the Rocket refused to oblige them as they killed off the final minutes of regulation to send the fans home happy with a 4-1 win.
Final Score: Laval 4, Springfield 1
Laval now gets a bit of a break before their next home game on Wednesday night, with the Utica Comets coming to town for their final meeting this season.
