A hectic start to 2026 continued for the Laval Rocket on Saturday as they rolled down I-90 in New York for a Saturday evening showdown with the Syracuse Crunch. The Rocket fended off a fierce effort by the Rochester Americans on Friday on the back of a 47-save effort by Kaapo Kähkönen. Friday night’s win ensured that Laval would hold on to first place this weekend regardless of the result against the Crunch.
Saturday did bring some good news for Laval, with Laurent Dauphin rejoining the lineup after missing out due to an illness on Friday. Josh Jacobs also drew back in replacing Josiah Didier in the lineup, while it was another start for Kähkönen in net.
It was a fast start for Laval as the reunited first line went to work, instantly generating chances of their own, and then having Adam Engström clanging a chance off the post. The puck refused to leave the Rocket sticks however, and Dauphin fed it back to Engström who ripped it by Brandon Halverson to give the Rocket an early 1-0 lead.
Tempers were then immediately running high for the Crunch as Jakob Pelletier landed a hit after the whistle on Sean Farrell, with the Rocket forward responding with a straight punch to the face of Pelletier. After officials separated both players it was a period of four-on-four in the early going of the first period.
The extra space on the ice allowed the Crunch’s speed to shine, but the Rocket defence did well to rein them in as they defended in their zone. Eventually Florian Xhekaj pounced on a loose puck, clearing it slowly out of the zone and allowing Jared Davidson to latch onto it in the neutral zone. Davidson settled the puck, and from the faceoff circle beat Halverson cleanly to make it a 2-0 contest.
Laval’s strong start continued as the Crunch were soon on the penalty kill as the Laval forecheck drew the first power play of the game. A bobbled puck instantly turned into a disaster on the power play for Laval however, as Engström was caught in no man’s land trying to defend a two-on-one short-handed rush. Mitchell Chaffee opted to take the shot, ripping it just off the arm of Kähkönen and in on the glove side to cut into Laval’s lead.
Laval did keep the pressure on, but struggled to get clean looks on Halverson, and were forced to try to extend their lead at even strength as the 10-minute mark of the period passed by. The Crunch took their short-handed goal as a momentum booster as they began to hem in the Rocket in their own end, eventually drawing a power play of their own. Laval’s inability to clean up loose pucks in front of their own net bit them on the penalty kill as Ethan Gauthier buried a pass from Chaffee to erase what had been a perfect start by the Rocket.
The Rocket did get a huge opportunity to end the period as Wyatt Newpower went off for hooking, giving Laval a very late power-play chance. Unlike their first attempt this one generated some solid looks, but the Crunch were able to make it into the intermission without surrendering another goal.
The Rocket used their remaining power-play time to push the Crunch back rapidly out of the start of the period, but the glove hand of Halverson did well to deny them a man-advantage goal. Laval did not have to wait long for another chance as William Trudeau’s tenacious forecheck drew a tripping call. The second power-play opportunity for the Rocket in the period struggled more than the first as Syracuse pressured every puck-carrier, not allowing any of them to make then necessary pass needed to finish plays off.
The back-to-back penalty kills gave the home team all the momentum in their favour, with the Rocket no longer finding their attacking seams open, and having plays broken up quickly by Syracuse. This in turn forced Kähkönen to be on his toes as the Finnish netminder made a number of saves in close to keep the game tied. While it seemed like the Crunch were destined to possibly take the lead late in the second period, the Rocket held the line still.
With their timely counter-attacks in full swing, Filip Mešár used a smart chip play and his speed to draw a tripping penalty as the period came to a close, and setting the Rocket up a golden chance to start the final period of regulation.
In what had become a trend during the game, the Rocket man advantage was unable to generate much of anything to threaten Halverson, and Engström found himself in the penalty box as he was caught holding back Pelletier cancelling the power play. A brief four-on-four gave way to a Crunch power play, and Engström’s penalty was a big one unfortunately. The Crunch attacked directly, with Chaffee firing a shot on net, and Dylan Duke tipping it home to make it three unanswered goals against.
The Crunch continued to give the Rocket every chance to claw back into the contest as they took another offensive-zone penalty and gave Laval their fifth power play of the night. The advantage lasted just 29 seconds before Engström’s rough third period resulted in another penalty to make it four-on-four once again. Syracuse could smell the blood in the water as they attacked. If not for a brave block by Tobie Bisson, it could have been a two-goal deficit for Laval.
Laval continued to push, but the Syracuse defence remained a stubborn opponent, and with two-and-a-half minutes left Pascal Vincent pulled Kähkönen for an offensive-zone faceoff. Again even with the extra attacker the Rocket had no answer for the Crunch defensive structure and wasted valuable time defending their own empty net as the seconds ticked off late in the third period. A hail mary goal was not in the cards for the Rocket, and Syracuse claimed both points.
Final Score: Syracuse 3, Laval 2
Luckily for the Rocket, they’ll return home to rest up, and potentially get some reinforcements from the Canadiens in the coming week as their next three games are on home ice. Up first on Wednesday night is a clash with the Belleville Senators.
