After the Rocket compiled four unanswered goals on Wednesday night in a win over the Utica Comets, they hit the road to visit central New York with their 10-game point streak in tow. First up on their weekend trip was a clash against the Syracuse Crunch and former coach Joël Bouchard.
The Rocket received a boost to their lineup as Joshua Roy returned after being sent down by the Canadiens earlier in the week. Roy slotted in alongside Brandon Gignac and Emil Heineman on the second line, bumping Filip Cederqvist down to the third. Defensive pairs remained the same as the previous game with Logan Mailloux and Tobie Paquette-Bisson anchoring the top pair. Jakub Dobeš got the start again in net.
Things got off to a fast start, with the Rocket bursting into the Crunch zone on an odd-man rush, but a pass to Heineman was just a step behind him, allowing Syracuse to break up the play.
Heading back the other way, the Crunch were able to create their own odd-man rush, with Felix Robert twisting Olivier Galipeau into the ice and finishing past Dobeš to open the scoring.
The Crunch kept the pressure up while the Rocket were struggling to find their usual forechecking tenacity. As Justin Barron pinched in to try to keep a play alive, Syracuse turned the play the other way, also catching William Trudeau flatfooted. Gabriel Fortier blew past Trudeau, and then rifled a wrist shot by Dobeš to put Laval in a two-goal deficit before half of the first period was over.
Syracuse’s second goal snapped the Rocket out of their early-game funk, with the fourth line being the one to lead the charge. A long shift resulted in the Rocket being able to change and get their first line back out on the ice in the offensive zone. Xavier Simoneau came off the boards with the puck, sliding it to the slot for Trudeau. The Rocket defenceman fired a low shot by Hugo Alnefelt to get the Rocket on the board.
Trudeau’s goal kept the Rocket’s late-period push going as they looked to find a tying goal. The Crunch tightened things up as the opening frame came to an end with the Rocket still trailing by a goal, and with tempers just boiling over the edge as the two teams came together at the horn.
Laval came out fast in the middle period, again spending a long time deep in the Syracuse zone, but struggled to to test Alnefelt from any dangerous spaces.
On the counter-attack, the Crunch were able to restore their two-goal lead and push the Rocket back to square one. Sean Day flew in from the point down to nearly the goal line, and fired a shot that found the smallest gap between Dobeš and the post to make it a 3-1 game.
An error by the Crunch resulted in Laval heading to the game’s first power play, with a huge opportunity to climb back into the game. Heineman did everything he could on the man advantage as they fed him repeated one-timers, but Alnefelt remained a stubborn obstacle between the pipes.
Then, it was the Rocket’s turn to head to the box, first for Cederqvist being called for holding, and moments after they killed off that penalty it was Simoneau replacing him as he was called for slashing. Thanks to Trudeau’s selflessness in giving up his body to block shots, the Rocket escaped the back-to-back kills without any goals against.
After struggling to find chances and goals for most of the second period, a bit of luck blessed the Rocket to end the period. Philippe Maillet collected a pass from Simoneau and fired it on goal, where it was partially blocked on the way. The block off the stick of Day actually made the puck bounce off the ice, and over the pad of Alnefelt before landing in the net.
A late push by the Crunch forced Dobeš into a sprawling save with 10 seconds on the clock, and while the Rocket netminder made the first save, the rebound sat dangerously loose in his crease. The defence sprung into action, smacking the puck away as the period came to a close and setting up a high-stakes third period in Syracuse.
The third period began with the Rocket bottom six finally finding their legs for their relentless forechecking style. Shift after shift, they created chances deep in the Syracuse zone, but Alnefelt and the Crunch defence swallowed up any second chances, leaving Laval still in search of a third goal.
As these games often do, the tempers boiled over after every whistle and after anyone got just a bit too close to one of the goalies. It eventually turned into Brandon Gignac and Gabriel Dumont attempting to square off in the neutral zone before the officials stepped in and sent both to the box for unsportsmanlike conduct.
From there it was all gas for both sides as the Rocket took every chance to attack in numbers, trying to create a third goal, while the Crunch were desperately trying to find an insurance marker. Neither goalie was giving an inch as the clock ticked closer to the end of regulation, with Dobeš making a huge save on Gage Goncalves at one end, and then Alnefelt robbing Roy right on top of his crease.
Laval finally got Dobeš to the bench for an extra attacker, and with an offensive-zone stoppage, they called their timeout to draw up a last-minute miracle. There was not one to be had for the Rocket in this game however. The Crunch clamped down any attack, and eventually buried an empty-net goal to end Laval’s point streak at 10 games.
Final Score: Syracuse 4, Laval 2
The Rocket will look to begin a new winning streak on Saturday when they head to Rochester for a match with the Americans. Kasimir Kaskisuo is the expected starter, with puck drop scheduled for 5:05 PM EST.
