Less than 24 hours after suffering a devastating loss at home to the Cleveland Monsters, the Laval Rocket found themselves on the road in Syracuse in a must-win situation.
They would have to contend with a strong Crunch team without Cayden Primeau and Corey Schueneman, who were called back up to Montreal ahead of the Canadiens’ game in Toronto. Drawing back in for the Rocket were Danick Martel and Tory Dello, while Kevin Poulin got the starting nod.
Things did not start well for Laval as the Crunch found the back of the net in the opening minutes of the game. Jack Thompson walked along the blue line and fired a shot over the top of Poulin’s blocker just 1:14 into the period.
The Rocket did respond well, with Anthony Richard breaking in around the defence and putting a perfect pass onto the stick of Xavier Simoneau, but the rookie forward pushed his chance off the post and away. The opportunistic Rocket managed to get the goal back before too long, thanks to a strong shift by their fourth line.
Jan Mysak broke out into a three-on-one rush into the Syracuse zone, with Mysak opting to keep the puck and outwaiting Hugo Alnefelt before sniping one by the Crunch goalie to tie the game.
The fourth line continued to shine for the Rocket as just three minutes later they struck again. Riley McKay won the race for a dump-in and fired a pass backward between his legs. Martel beat his man to the front of the net and wired his shot past Alnefelt to put the Rocket into the lead.
The Crunch put the pressure on Laval as the first period approached its end, and the Rocket were relying heavily on Poulin as they iced the puck multiple times in the closing minutes. Thankfully, the veteran goalie was locked in, allowing the Rocket to take a one-goal lead into the first intermission.
Period two started with the Rocket being the ones to grab an early goal. Nicolas Beaudin walked in deep in the offensive zone, firing a pass into the slot for Mitchell Stephens. A spinning pass from Stephens was deflected back to Pierrick Dubé, and Dubé fired a shot through a sprawling pile of Crunch players to make it a 3-1 game.
A high-sticking penalty put the Rocket onto a power play with a chance to put a stranglehold on the game. While the Crunch fended off 95% of the Rocket advantage, the final seconds made all the difference. Simoneau got the puck to William Trudeau at the point, and Trudeau wired one through traffic to make it a three-goal lead.
With the Crunch swapping goalies and turning up the pressure, the Rocket took a penalty of their own. Alex Barré-Boulet whipped a pass to Simon Ryfors, who finished with ease to make it a 4-2 game.
The Crunch continued to pour on the pressure, and they were again rewarded despite the Rocket protests. Daniel Walcott held up and shot a pass to the front of the crease where Jack Finley got a shot off. His rebound went in thanks to his skate colliding with Poulin’s pad, but the officials ruled it a good goal and left J.-F. Houle furious.
Houle took his timeout after the goal to try to rally his side back to life, and much like the Crunch has experienced earlier, it brought the team back to an even keel. Laval, despite a rough patch in the middle of the period, managed to keep their one-goal lead heading into the third period.
The Crunch came out of the gate strong, forcing Kevin Poulin to be on his toes at all times, and even with that they still clanged a pair of shots off the iron behind the Rocket goalie. Despite the early pressure, the Rocket managed to keep the shots even as the period passed the halfway point and the game getting tighter and tighter.
As the final minutes ticked away the Rocket were shelled up and defending with every ounce of effort they had left. Poulin was dialed in to keep a hungry Crunch team from forcing the game into overtime. With the Crunch net empty in the final minute, it was Dello hitting the empty net to seal the win for the Rocket.
Final Score: Laval 5, Syracuse 3
This win, coupled with a Monsters loss on Saturday night, resets the damage done from last night’s loss to Cleveland as the Rocket move ahead on points, but have one less game to play than the Monsters.
The Rocket will finish out their season with three games at home, starting with a game against the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins on Monday evening.
