It has been rare for the Laval Rocket under Pascal Vincent to have sustained losing streaks, especially when the pressure is at its highest. However, riding a two-game skid entering Saturday ramped up the pressure for Laval as they tried to pare down their magic number just a little bit more against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
It was a first Rocket start for Hunter Shepard, who was acquired at the AHL trade deadline, while Vincent Arseneau rejoined the lineup in place of Will Dineen on the fourth line.
It was a trial by fire right out of the gate for Shepard as the Rocket took an early penalty and put their penalty-killers to the test. The goalie was dialed in as the Penguins piled up a half-dozen shots on their two-minute advantage for the Rocket netminder to turn away. Nate Clurman was freed from the box thanks to Shepard’s efforts, and back at even strength Laval was in search of some offensive pressure.
However, that pressure was nonexistent for the Rocket as they failed to register a shot on net in the opening 11 minutes, struggling to get anything off their sticks in the offensive zone, let alone on net to trouble Sergei Murashov. The first Rocket shots wouldn’t come until there were around six minutes left in the first period, but they did awaken the Rocket attack after such a slow start, including the team drawing a power play of its own.
That power play ended up turning quickly against the Rocket the Penguins struck while short-handed. Sean Farrell turned the puck over right at the point, forcing Adam Engström to try to cover an odd-man rush in the other direction. Avery Hayes opted to call his own number, snapping a low shot by the pad of Shepard to open up the scoring.
The Penguins would take that one-goal lead into the first intermission, but the Rocket were slowly finding their legs toward the end of the opening 20 minutes.
Laval chose to start their second period on hard mode as Dillan Bentley took a seat for roughing just 31 seconds in. Another strong penalty-killing effort allowed the Rocket to actually draw an even-up call, giving the Rocket a brief power play after Bentley exited the box. While Owen Beck was all over the puck on the Rocket man advantage, the pads and gloves of Murashov left Laval still seeking their first goal on the evening.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying. The Rocket opened up a 6-1 shot advantage as the period reached its halfway point, but were struggling to find second-chance shots or rebounds. It continued to be Beck leading the way in attack as he split a pair of defenders on a rush, but his backhand was snuffed out, and the second chance by Filip Mešár was turned away as well.
As the tempers began to rise, Alex Belzile managed to draw a call as Avery Hayes gave him a two-handed chop off a faceoff. The man advantage threw everything it had on net during their third power play of the night, but despite the intense pressure they continued to find themselves stymied by Murashov. The Penguins’ netminder made strong saves on Sammy Blais at the side of the net, and then again on a shot from Jared Davidson in the faceoff circle. However, the veteran wiles of Belzile sent them back to the advantage with 1:34 left in the period.
This time the Laval power play struck paydirt, thanks in part to the work of Belzile with the puck. The Rocket’s leading goal-scorer cut through the heart of the Penguins’ defence, chipping a puck ahead to Farrell as he cut to the net. Farrell sent a return feed right to the back post, and Belzile directed it home to finally get the Rocket on the scoreboard.
The joy of Belzile’s goal after a strong second period was wiped out almost immediately as the Penguins took the lead right back. A lapse on defence left a mountain of space for Aidan McDonough to take a leading feed and snap a shot by Shepard to make it a 2-1 contest.
The late goal gave the Penguins the lead heading into the second intermission, despite the fact the Rocket had outshot them 17-6 in the frame.
Even with the late goal in the second period, the Rocket came out in fine form as they looked to find a game-tying goal. Despite their pressure it took just one lazy, errant pass from Blais in the offensive zone to dig the Rocket further into a hole. Blais saw his pass picked off, and it quickly transitioned Hayes to a clean break on net, and Hayes sniped one over the shoulder of Shepard to make it a 3-1 game.
Hayes’s second goal of the night seemingly knocked the wind out of the Rocket sails, and a Luke Tuch penalty with just over 11 minutes left to play put Laval in a true do-or-die situation. The penalty-killing units continued to be a shining point for the Rocket for another game as they fought off the man advantage with ease to give themselves a fighting chance.
The Rocket continued to be their own worst enemy as the final minutes began to approach, with David Reinbacher hitting Hayes away from the puck and putting his side short-handed with just over six minutes left. Reinbacher was lucky to escape without further damage, as the Rocket penalty-killers continued a perfect night, but with 4:21 left on the clock they had to work fast to earn at least one point.
With just over three minutes left and the puck deep inside the offensive zone, Vincent pulled Shepard for the extra attacker to try to salvage something from the game. It was again the case of the Rocket throwing everything they had on net, even with the Penguins down a defender as his skate blade popped out, and yet there was not a bounce to be had for them. Beck rang a shot off the crossbar, and Condotta missed from a tight angle as the Penguins closed out the game.
Final Score: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 3, Laval 1
A third straight loss for the Rocket leaves them with little room for error as they approach their final six games of the season with the Syracuse Crunch breathing down their necks. The schedule now begins to thin out for the Rocket, and they’ll be back in action on Friday night against the Calgary Wranglers.
