After a long road trip to kick off the new year, the Laval Rocket found themselves back in the friendly confines of Place Bell to kick off five straight games on home ice. With back-to-back wins over the Toronto Marlies and Syracuse Crunch, the Rocket had built some momentum for a meeting with the last-place Utica Comets.
Injuries to Jared Davidson and David Reinbacher continued to loom large, especially with the continued absence of Tobie Bisson as well. Sammy Blais hadn’t made it in time for the game on Wednesday, which meant Filip Mešár got a bump to the second line with Owen Beck and Joshua Roy. Adam Engström and Josiah Didier united to form Laval’s top pair and in net it was Jacob Fowler getting a third straight start.
It was, by all accounts, a quiet start to the game for the Rocket who were getting a few looks on net but not setting up for any lengthy shifts inside the offensive zone. However, it was clear that the Rocket speed and skill was going to cause issues for the Comets.
Marc Del Gaizo sprung free down the wing, throwing a centring feed to the front of the net where Laurent Dauphin fanned on his first shot, then while sitting on his butt swept in the second chance to make it a 1-0 game.
Dauphin’s league-leading 50th point and 14th goal overall kicked the offence into gear from there as the second line cycled without much issue against the Utica defence. Then the fourth line hopped on the ice to throw their weight around, and also allowed Luke Tuch to draw a penalty for an early Rocket power play.
While the power play didn’t add to the Rocket’s tally, they pressed Jakub Malek over and over, forcing the Utica netminder into a handful of lunging saves with his blocker to keep it a 1-0 game. The onslaught of shots continued as the first period ticked on, but the Rocket were lacking the final touch they needed to finish them off as Tyler Thorpe misfired a pair of odd-man rush chances.
It was the fourth line that eventually doubled the lead as they continued their destructive march forward through the Comets’ defence. Del Gaizo again sped in down the wing, leaving his opponent behind as he sent a feed to the back post. This time Vincent Arseneau was standing there, and with a deft move of his skate deflected the pass home for his third goal of the season. A review did follow, but after several minutes the officials found no evidence of a kicking motion and the Rocket’s pugilistic forward found himself officially on the scoresheet.
Before long that two-goal lead became three thanks to a helpful bounce. William Trudeau collected a feed at the point and threw a harmless-looking shot on net. It hit Brian Halonen and deflected by Malek to add to a dominant first period for Laval.
Then things turned into an on-ice boxing contest as Tuch and Nathan Legare squared off in a short fight before Arseneau and Jackson van de Leest followed it up with a spirited tilt at centre ice with a flurry of punches, bringing the crowd to its feet.
For good measure, Joshua Roy flew through the offensive zone, circled the net, and picked out Filip Mešár all alone in the slot. The young Slovak didn’t miss his chance as he buried his sixth goal of the season to send Laval into the first intermission leading 4-0.
It took all of 37 seconds for the Rocket to add to their already substantial lead as the second period got under way. Adam Engström kept a puck alive and fed it up the boards to Xavier Simoneau, who then lobbed it across the zone to Thorpe. The rookie forward settled the puck for a moment, then ripped a shot off the crossbar to make it a 5-0 game.
Fowler’s quest for another shutout would come to a close with just over 12 minutes played in the second period. A quick rebound came to Angus Crookshank all alone in the net-front area, and he was able to roof a chance by Fowler to put a meagre dent in Laval’s lead.
It wasn’t long before the Rocket just decided to get their five-goal advantage back as the top line struck in lightning-quick fashion. A quick transition through the neutral zone resulted in Dauphin having a wide-open offensive zone to thread a pass through. He saw Sean Farrell cutting to the back post and slung a pass right to Farrell’s stick. Farrell, with one hand on his stick, poked it by Nico Daws for a sixth Rocket goal.
The Rocket did hand that goal back to the Comets as the period was coming to a close as a sliding block wasn’t able to stop Cam Squires’s pass to Josh Filmon, who tapped it by the back leg of Fowler. However, the Rocket were still rolling as they headed into the second intermission leading 6-2.
Laval started the third period much like the first two, hemming the Comets deep in the offensive zone and creating chances without much resistance. However, while chasing down a dump-in, Florian Xhekaj gave Daws a slight shove as he circled the net, drawing a roughing call for his troubles. Laval’s penalty-killers seemingly took the penalty to Xhekaj personally as they spent more time with the puck than the Comets did.
The Rocket then got a bit of a break as Utica was called for too many men, handing Laval 1:46 of power-play time to work with. Before that first penalty could end, Legare caught Dauphin up high with his stick, and suddenly the Rocket had a brief five-on-three advantage. It remained a quiet night for the Rocket power play however, and they were unable to add to their already substantial goal total.
Laval was content to just run out the remaining time on the clock with a four-goal lead providing plenty of cushion. Before regulation could run out, a heavy hit by Jonathan Gruden on Engström drew the instant ire of Lucas Condotta, leading to a one-sided fight in favour of the Rocket’s captain.
Final Score: Laval 6, Utica 2
The Rocket will now have Thursday off before entering a two-game series with the Cleveland Monsters starting on Friday night at Place Bell. The Monsters are hot on the trail of the Rocket and both games will be crucial for the Rocket to maintain their division lead. Puck drop on Friday is set for 7 PM ET.
