Less than 24 hours after a hard-fought, come-from-behind shootout win, the Laval Rocket and Syracuse Crunch locked horns again with first place in the division on the line. The Rocket sat one point ahead of the Crunch, but anything less than a win on home ice would leave them in second place.
The Rocket mostly stuck with a winning lineup heading in to the rematch with Syracuse, their only change coming on defence. Ryan O’Rourke was swapped out for Josh Jacobs on the third pair, giving them a more stable defensive option. Tobie Bisson and David Reinbacher remained as Pascal Vincent’s top option, and in net it was Kaapo Kähkönen getting the start over Hunter Jones.
Laval was out of the gate quickly on Sunday afternoon, looking to build a cushion against a dangerous Crunch team. Xavier Simoneau had the best look early on, coming free in the slot and just whistling his shot over the net. However, it was the Rocket’s top line that got them on the board first after a quiet showing on Saturday. Laurent Dauphin flicked a long pass from the neutral zone into the offensive zone right corner. Sean Farrell grabbed the puck, spun off his man and fed it to Alex Belzile, who had no problem hammering his chance by Ryan Fanti.
The Rocket continued to keep their foot on the gas, trying to find a second goal in the first period and forcing their rivals to match their level. David Reinbacher nearly made it so, as he shed one defender through the neutral zone to create an odd-man rush, but his shot was fended off by Fanti.
The Rocket also tried to be a bit too cute with the puck inside the defensive zone, trying to run rapid passing plays that the Crunch jumped all over to trap the Rocket deep in their own end. Syracuse took advantage of that chaos, opening up a spot right in the slot for a chance that forced Kähkönen into a desperation save with his shoulder to keep it a 1-0 game.
Their mistakes turned the game’s momentum in favour of the Crunch, who were catching the Laval defence flat-footed in transition. As the Crunch were about to head to the game’s first power play, Jakob Pelletier worked the puck to Ethan Samson at the blue line. Samson fired a heavy shot through traffic that tied the game 1-1.
The game took a nasty turn as Jarred Tinordi came up from behind to cross-check Tobie Bisson after the whistle without a call, and then on the following shift William Trudeau took a late hit on a dump-in that went unpunished as well. Eventually, Tommy Miller, in a battle for the puck, took an extra shot at Filip Mešár and sat for a two-minute minor.
That minor penalty was a costly one for the Crunch as the Rocket power play smelled blood in the water and were all over the Syracuse penalty-killers. Eventually Dauphin wrangled a pass from Farrell, and picked out a wide-open Alex Belzile in the faceoff circle. Belzile took the feed from Dauphin and ripped it off the post and in, giving Laval back their lead heading in to the intermission.
The Rocket scoring to end the first period bled in to the second as they doubled their advantage in just 15 seconds. Joshua Roy sent Florian Xhekaj ahead on what looked like an odd-man rush, but Xhekaj opted to call his own number, rifling a shot past Fanti to make it a 3-1 contest.
While the Rocket were implementing their gameplan to grind down the Crunch on every shift, they were still managing to test the Syracuse netminder frequently. Their plan did hit a snag when Lucas Condotta was called for holding, putting the Rocket penalty kill on the ice for the first time on the day.
Even with one of their key penalty-killers in the box, the Rocket hounded the Crunch man advantage at every turn. Some strong saves by Kähkönen turned into short-handed pressure by the Rocket who allowed their captain to exit the penalty box with their two-goal lead still intact.
The Rocket followed a successful penalty kill by going right back to the box with Nate Clurman taking a seat this time. The Crunch could sense their opportunity in front of them, and they attacked the Rocket penalty-killers relentlessly from all angles. Some gutsy blocks by Jacobs and Josiah Didier were key in alleviating the pressure and again allowing them to escape with their lead intact.
Then, as the Rocket were pushing the Crunch back, it was former Hab Tinordi taking an ill-advised penalty. Laval’s power play needed all of 18 seconds to do what Syracuse had been unable to do all period. Farrell, operating along the blue line, took a pass from Belzile and instantly scanned the zone to find a target. Farrell put a perfect diagonal feed on the stick of Roy at the back post, and Roy easily directed it home to make it a 4-1 game.
Roy’s goal gave the Rocket a healthy cushion as the second period came to a close. With the defensive gameplan holding up, the Rocket were just 20 minutes from closing out the weekend all alone in first place.
With a comfortable three-goal lead, the Rocket entered the final period of regulation with the simple mindset of mitigating any chances they might allow. All four lines were happy to oblige as they closed down Syracuse puck-carriers with authority and made life difficult on every shift. If the Crunch tried to cross the blue line, they were stood up by a defender and the puck was out of the zone rapidly.
Laval continued to grind down the clock, allowing the Crunch nothing to work with at even strength. With just under four minutes left to play, the visiting side pulled their goalie to push for a miracle comeback. The extra man paid off quickly as a passing play in the high slot freed up Dylan Duke to blast a goal by Kähkönen.
It wasn’t long before the Crunch pulled Fanti again, putting the Rocket in a crucial situation to defend for another three-plus minutes. Despite allowing a second goal, the Rocket closed down Syracuse for the rest of the third period, including a half-hearted empty-net chance by Kähkönen. The final horn sounded with the Rocket sweeping their divisional rival.
Final Score: Laval 4, Syracuse 2
The Rocket will play one last game in 2025, on New Year’s Eve. Puck drop on Wednesday is set for 3 PM ET against the Belleville Senators.
