After an uneven start to the week, the Laval Rocket bounced back in a huge way on Friday night, piling on four third-period goals to score a big win over the Manitoba Moose. There was no rest for the team however, as it headed out on the road to an icy Central New York for a Saturday night game with the Syracuse Crunch. While 14 points separated the two sides in the standings, these meetings were never without plenty of emotion. With the Rocket also chasing Rochester for first place in the division, it also was a key game for Laval as well.
David Reinbacher was out of the lineup for Saturday’s game as he was eased back into the regular rotation following his lengthy layoff. Drawing in for Reinbacher and the injured Noel Hoefenmayer was ECHL call-up Vincent Sévigny on the third pair with William Trudeau, and Zack Hayes was bumped up to the second pair with Adam Engström, Connor Hughes got the start after Cayden Primeau started on Friday night.
Laval had a tough go of things to start the first period. After a strong first shift, the Rocket found themselves trapped deep in the defensive zone. Hughes had to lunge across to rob Logan Brown of a sure goal at the side of the net, and the rebound chance was sailed wide by the Crunch. Florian Xhekaj finally grabbed the puck, but fired it right out of play, putting Laval on an early penalty kill.
The Rocket’s penalty-killers did another fantastic job at smothering the Crunch attack, allowing them next to nothing as they worked to free Xhekaj from the box. As the penalty expired it was up to Hughes to again calm things down as Engström’s stick broke leaving him empty-handed while Syracuse circled the zone.
While the Crunch’s chances after their power play were few, the Rocket didn’t manage a shot on goal until nearly eight minutes in when Lucas Condotta hammered one from the slot on Brandon Halverson. After a breakaway save by Hughes after a failed back pass, the Rocket pushed the Crunch back again, and drew a penalty of their own.
With Hoefenmayer out for the night the units got a shuffle, and as a result some chemistry was lacking between the lines as the Crunch fended off the Rocket advantage.
Even with their power play expired, the Rocket were the ones to break the deadlock. Riley Kidney took a huge hit along the wall to get the puck to Xhekaj at the goal line. Xhekaj took a moment then sniped one over the shoulder of Halverson along the goal line to open the scoring.
Laval’s lead didn’t last long, with Alex Beaucage heading to the box for holding and the Crunch getting a second crack at the power play. Laval’s penalty-killers were again doing a strong job to fend off the man advantage, but a Jack Finley shot changed that. Hughes made the initial save and it looked like the Rocket netminder had the puck covered with his pad, but Conor Sheary jammed it into the net to tie the game.
While Laval pushed hard to get the momentum back, the first period ended with the game tied and Syracuse dominating the shot counter 16-5.
Period two kicked off with Hughes again having to make an acrobatic save in order to deny the Crunch a goal. A long shot from the point was lifted into the air, leading Hughes to try to collect it in his glove, but it hit the cheater of his glove and started falling toward the net. Hughes then spun, batting the puck away in pure desperation to keep the game tied at one goal apiece.
Just as the Rocket were beginning to get their offence going, an errant pass by Logan Mailloux in his own zone forced Alex Barré-Boulet into a holding penalty and put the Rocket back on the penalty kill. After surrendering a power-play goal in the first period, the Laval penalty-killers did everything they could to give Syracuse nothing, and Hughes swallowed up any loose pucks to keep the game still deadlocked.
After a huge hit by Conor Geekie in the neutral zone, the Rocket responded by slashing the stick out of his hands and sticking themselves on another penalty kill with less than five minutes to play in the period. The penalty-killing units again kept the Crunch from generating real pressure on goal, and as a reward Condotta immediately took a delay of game penalty to put the special-teams unit back on the ice.
Even without their top penalty-killer, the Rocket continued to put together strong shifts and refused to budge an inch while down a man. As admirable as the effort was, the Rocket were lucky to head into the second intermission with the game still tied. Syracuse held a 33-11 shot advantage and the Rocket were desperate to try to stem the tide in some form in the third period.
A strong opening push by the Rocket looked like they might turn the momentum back in their favour, but their shots never made it to Halverson in net. Unfortunately for the Rocket, a small breakdown turned into an odd-man rush and Sheary fed Jack Finley a one-timer that Hughes could not get a pad on.
The second Crunch goal seemed to set off all the frustrations in the Rocket group as a scrum resulted in Owen Beck and Xhekaj taking penalties against Dylan Duke and Logan Brown, with the Crunch opponents also taking a seat in the box next to theirs.
The wheels continued to fall off for the Rocket as a delayed penalty gave the Crunch an extra attacker. The power play never got a chance to take the ice as Steven Santini hammered a shot on goal that rebounded out to Finley, and the Crunch forward made no mistake in burying his second goal of the period.
Barré-Boulet continued to push to will the Rocket back into the game, and in the process he drew a four-minute penalty and gave Laval the biggest chance of the game. There was one strong push in the opening minute of the power play, after that it was the Rocket failing to generate anything of note, and then taking a high-sticking penalty to send Syracuse back to a power play of their own.
Laval again killed off the Crunch power play, and desperately began their last search for a comeback in the final minutes. During this push, the Rocket kept Hughes in his net until the last minute approached, a strong message from Pascal Vincent that their effort was far from good enough to deserve a win.
Dauphin eventually added a goal with an extra attacker, but with just one second left on the clock it was nothing more than a consolation goal.
Tempers flared on the final faceoff, but it didn’t matter much as cooler heads separated the heated parties and the Rocket ended a chaotic week with another frustrating loss.
Final Score: Syracuse 3, Laval 2
Laval will have time to lick their wounds and likely suffer a bag skate practice before their next game. They’re back in action on Wednesday morning as they travel to Toronto for an 11 AM matineé with the Marlies, which is sure to be heated after their last meeting.
League standings
