Fresh off a crucial win on Wednesday night in Syracuse, the Laval Rocket returned home for one final game before the Christmas holiday. The Rocket got an early present with the return of both Sean Farrell and Lias Andersson to the lineup against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Both forwards took up spots on the third line for the night with Philippe Maillet set to centre the both of them.
Jakub Dobeš got the nod for another start, backed up by the recently signed Kasimir Kaskisuo while the Penguins countered with Magnus Hellberg as their starter. A trio of familiar faces were also in uniform for the Pens, with Xavier Ouellet, Rem Pitlick and Peter Abbandonato highlighting the starting lineup.
The opening five minutes were a fantastic bit of pace as the Rocket generated a few prime scoring chances through Joshua Roy and Brandon Gignac while the Penguins countered with an odd-man rush chance from Marc Johnstone that was denied by Dobeš. The Rocket’s feisty nature handed the Penguins the game’s first power play, but Laval’s penalty kill came up big to keep them off the board.
Then, a game that started off with some spice continued as Dmitri Samorukov and Jagger Joshua continued to harass Lias Andersson after the whistle, drawing the ire of Arber Xhekaj and putting the Rocket on a power play of their own. While the Rocket were able to keep control of the puck fairly well, their man advantage also came up empty-handed as the period crossed the midway point.
The two sides continued to battle for every inch of ice, with Johnstone sending Laval to a late power play when he caught Riley McKay up high with his stick. However, the Rocket power play was nullified thanks to Lucas Condotta swatting away a stick and being called for interference. While the first period ended scoreless, the Rocket had a short penalty kill to begin the second frame.
The effort from a strong opening period continued into the second as Laval was all over the Penguins from the opening puck drop. The relentless nature of their game wore down the Penguins on every shift until they were finally able to get a bounce to go their way. The Rocket won the puck at the blue line and Jan Mysak barrelled forward, drawing in the opposing defence. Mysak absorbed a hit to get the puck on goal where William Trudeau got just enough of the shot to sneak it by Hellberg and open up the scoring.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton found some legs following Trudeau’s goal, drawing a penalty that saw Mysak head to the box. Laval’s penalty-killers again looked flawless, giving the Penguins nothing for chances and escaping with their lead intact. However, the following shift finally saw the dam break just a bit as Alex Nylander got his stick on a shot by Ty Smith and deflected it by Dobeš to tie the game at one.
Nathan Légaré got the upper hand on his old team, drawing a penalty in the offensive zone and putting the Rocket in a spot to regain the lead and stymie the Pens’ momentum. Laval’s man advantage did just that as Gignac danced around a checker and put the puck into the wheelhouse for Logan Mailloux at the point. Mailloux unloaded a missile of a shot that beat Hellberg clean and restored the one-goal advantage.
Johnstone’s temper got the better of him, leading him to take a roughing call and putting a suddenly hot Laval power play back on the ice. Again the man advantage converted with Xavier Simoneau feeding Arber Xhekaj all alone in the high slot. Xhekaj wired a shot home to make it a two-goal game.
The Pens’ penalty parade marched on, and the Rocket continued to take total advantage of it. With Joshua in the box, Mailloux waited a second inside the offensive zone and fired a perfect pass to the back post for Gignac to deflect home for a back-breaking goal.
A late penalty by Riley McKay put the Rocket on their heels for a moment, but the home side closed out the period with ease, keeping a three-goal lead heading into the final period.
Laval made sure to twist the knife further as the period began, piling on a fourth straight goal to clip the Penguins’ wings. Maillet circled through the offensive zone, finding Farrell alone in the slot, and Farrell had no problem burying his fifth goal of the year.
While Laval was doing quite well at riding the game out, a late penalty from Lias Andersson allowed the Penguins to chip into the lead just a bit. As Andersson exited the box, Dmitri Samorukov snapped a shot by Dobeš from the point to cut into Laval’s massive lead.
In the end, the goal mattered little as the Rocket easily saw out the final few minutes, securing a second massive win before the holiday break, and bouncing back in a big way after a disastrous game against Hershey a week ago.
Final Score: Laval 5, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 2
Laval now gets a break for the Christmas holiday and will be back on December 28 when they travel to Belleville for a tilt with the Senators.
