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Rocket @ Comets recap & highlights: Laval bounces back with big win

Posted on by Jared Book
Credit: Arena du Rocket, Inc.

The Laval Rocket may have had one of their worst performances of the season on Wednesday in a loss to the worst team in the AHL, but rebounded with a 4-1 win over the Utica Comets on Friday night.

Florian Xhekaj had two goals, while the Rocket also had multi-point nights from Sean Farrell and Laurent Dauphin.

“Very happy [with the way we responded],” said Rocket head coach Pascal Vincent. “We addressed the situation with our players. After the [Bridgeport] game, we were not happy with the last game. We won two big games against Rochester, two emotional games. Human nature is that there will be a little letdown. We didn’t want to come out the way we did against Bridgeport. We addressed the situation and today we played a good game.”

It didn’t take the Rocket long to get on the board. Just 5:41 into the game, Farrell scored on the power play when he scored on the Dauphin rebound after Utica goaltender Isaac Poulter made a big save on the veteran.

It was Farrell’s 13th goal of the season. Laval was outshot 13-8 in the first period but Cayden Primeau stood tall, making some great saves to preserve the lead.

Early in the second period, the Rocket doubled their lead. Vincent Arseneau got the puck to Zack Hayes, whose shot was tipped by Florian Xhekaj and trickled by Poulter.

It was Xhekaj’s first of two goals of the game.

Laval made it 3-0 with another power play goal when Laurent Dauphin put home the rebound past Poulter.

Utica appeared to score on the power play late in the second period but it was ruled that it was tipped with a high stick. Before the penalty expired, Brian Halonen broke in all alone and put a backhand past Primeau to make it 3-1 with less than three minutes remaining.

The Comets continued to push in the final minutes of the second, but Primeau kept it a two-goal lead entering the third period with some big saves.

In the third period, the Rocket played sound defensive hockey and didn’t allow much in terms of great scoring chances. After allowing 13 shots in the first period, Laval only allowed 12 shots over the final two periods combined even despite Utica pushing to get back into the game.

Xhekaj finished the game off with an empty net goal with 3:43 remaining off of a pass from Lucas Condotta.

The goal was Xhekaj’s 17th of the season, tying him for sixth in goals among AHL rookies. The goal also set a new Rocket rookie record.

After the game Vincent talked about Xhekaj, and admitted that they weren’t even sure if he would be with the team this year as sending back to junior was a real possibility, but they liked what they saw in rookie camp and in the pre-season.

“What he’s doing is very impressive. Not only the goals but his contributions on the penalty kill. He doesn’t play on the power play so most of his goals are five-on-five,” Vincent said. “His capacity to learn is very high. His details, the way he plays, we’re really happy to have him.”

The two teams will face off again tomorrow night in Utica as the Rocket look to sweep the two games on the road. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m.

Notes

  • Alex Beaucage left the game with an injury and did not return. Rafaël Harvey-Pinard did not make the trip to Utica, and David Reinbacher sat out his third game in a row as the team is being cautious with his return to play. He did make the trip to Utica, but will not play in Saturday’s game either. Pascal Vincent said there’s no panic, he will skate in the morning, and they are following the process provided by the Montreal Canadiens.
  • The team recalled Vincent Sevigny and Jakov Novak for the trip.

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