After an iffy start to the month of December the Laval Rocket entered Friday night’s contest on a three-game winning streak with a chance to push it to four games against Syracuse. They would not only have to contend with an always feisty Crunch team, but some last-minute lineup changes as well.
Jakub Dobeš was called up to the NHL, with Cayden Primeau set to be waived on Saturday, which meant the net belonged to Connor Hughes, with Luke Cavallin as the backup. Noel Hoefenmayer was overseas taking part in the Spengler Cup while Gustav Lindström slotted in. Brandon Gignac was also back from injury, taking a place on the fourth line, forcing Luke Tuch to the press box alongside Vincent Arseneau and Riley Kidney.
While the chances were few and far between, it was the Rocket carrying the early play with the puck, even if their passes were finding mostly skates and not the sticks of teammates. Unfortunately for the Rocket, it ended up being the Crunch who got on the board first, taking advantage of a lack of attention on a dump-in attempt. Maxim Groshev hustled by Tyler Wotherspoon to beat out an icing, and before Josh Jacobs could pivot in front of net, Groshev fed Daniel Walcott for the opening goal.
The Rocket did respond well to the goal against, rolling their lines and snuffing out potential threats before they crossed centre ice. However, as they began to get the momentum turning back in their favour, Simoneau tripped up Gabriel Fortier and put Laval on the penalty kill. A strong Rocket penalty kill showed its teeth and kept the Crunch off the board as the first period crossed its halfway point.
The continued pressure from the Rocket forced Roman Schmidt into holding back Sean Farrell in the offensive zone, putting Laval on its first power play. The Rocket’s struggles on the man advantage were apparent in the first attempt as their passes were off-target and resulted in multiple short-handed rushes. As the first period began to tick down, the Rocket were still chasing a goal, while the Crunch were ramping up their physicality, aimed specifically at Florian Xhekaj.
While the play shifted to four-on-four, the Rocket were trying everything they could to try to chip into the Syracuse lead. Ironically, the best play during that four-on-four stretch was Adam Engström sprinting back into the play to deny Conor Sheary a clean breakaway chance. That breakup allowed the Rocket to turn the play the other way, drawing a second power play of the period.
The same power-play issues continued to plague the Rocket, allowing the Crunch to escape the first period with a one-goal lead and having limited Laval to just five total shots on goal.
Laval jumped out of the gate in the second, nearly scoring on the opening shift against the Crunch, but it was a case of one pass too many inside the offensive zone, allowing Syracuse to swing play in the other direction. Joël Teasdale fired a shot off the end boards behind Hughes, and at the side of the net Milo Roelens tucked it by the arm of Hughes to double the lead.
The second Crunch goal noticeably flustered the Rocket, who struggled to generate any chances on Mat Tomkins in the Crunch net. Meanwhile, Syracuse continued to keep Laval stuck back in their own zone. Even if they weren’t generating a ton of chances on net, they were keeping the Rocket far away from any chance to climb back into the game.
Laval’s frustrations started to boil over. Jared Davidson got into a shoving match right off a faceoff, but his eagerness to engage resulted in him being the only player in the box, sending Syracuse back to the power play. Despite the offensive zone issues, the Rocket penalty kill remained strong as the players fought off the Crunch power play to keep the deficit at just two goals.
Tempers continued to flare as Owen Beck and Dylan Duke had a disagreement that led to the two forwards throwing off the gloves for a spirited scrap. Coming out of the break following the fight it was clear that the fight did little to inspire the Rocket as Schmidt scored for the Crunch off a faceoff to make it a 3-0 game.
Logan Mailloux’s daring drive through the offensive zone resulted in the Rocket drawing another power play, with a chance to stem the bleeding late in the second period. Again it was a frustrating exercise as the Rocket overshot their chances and opportunities, leaving them trailing by three goals heading into the final period.
Needing a strong start to the third period to mount a comeback, the Rocket instead took a hooking penalty inside the first 90 seconds, putting them in a tough spot early. On a night of frustrating issues, the penalty kill continued to show why it was among the best in the AHL as they smothered another Crunch power play with ease.
The Rocket would put their penalty kill to the test again shortly after Jacobs exited the box, with Xhekaj replacing him. The Rocket’s continued pressure on the penalty kill forced Teasdale into a penalty, giving Laval a brief, but crucial, man advantage. Again, the Rocket made life hard on themselves as they opened up great opportunities but continued to make that extra pass around the front of net.
After Joshua Roy was stonewalled on a point-blank shot, the following faceoff finally broke the Crunch’s shutout. Beck won the draw back to Roy, and Roy teed up Wotherspoon for his first goal of the year.
The comeback charge lasted all of two minutes, as small mistakes continued to haunt the Rocket. The Crunch split through the Rocket defence with Gabriel Fortier opening up the slot in a big way. Before the Rocket could get back in numbers Jack Finley smacked home the loose puck to put the Crunch on top by three goals once again.
The fourth goal knocked any competitive fight out of the Rocket, and even a late power play failed to yield a consolation goal of any kind. In the end, it was the Rocket failing to capitalize on multiple chances, while the Crunch took advantage of any Rocket errors they could to snap Laval’s winning streak.
Final Score: Syracuse 4, Laval 1
The Rocket won’t have long to lick their wounds, as they will re-match the Crunch on Saturday afternoon in a 3:00 PM start at Place Bell.
