Playing in their first game of the 2024 calendar, and riding a two-game win streak they had established at the end of December, the Laval Rocket were looking to start their new year off with a bang on Friday night. Taking on a Utica Comets roster that has had their number so far this season, it wouldn’t be an easy two points for them to get on the road.
Unfortunately they’d need to overcome somewhat of a rough start, largely thanks to special-teams play. The Rocket had two power-play attempts before even reaching the midway point of the period, and while they had some chances on the second opportunity, they never came all that close to scoring on either.
Past midway, Utica got their first such chance, and made no mistake. Tyler Wotherspoon fired a long point shot through traffic, and Jakub Dobes could do little as the puck sailed past him and made it 1-0 for the Comets. They’d add another, after Xavier Simoneau took another penalty late in the frame, giving a short five-on-three to Utica. Laval would hold the Comets off for the two-man advantage, but a one-timer from Cal Foote during the time remaining on Simoneau’s penalty made it 2-0.
In the final two minutes, the solid five-on-five play of the Rocket was finally rewarded. Jared Davidson, who had been one of the better looking forwards on either side to that point, fired a perfect shot from the left circle to get the Rocket on the board, and get his team some momentum heading into the intermission.
That momentum carried over into the second period, where staying out of the box appeared to be a priority for the Rocket. A few minutes in, Logan Mailloux found Joshua Roy on the half-wall, he’d put it back into the middle for Arber Xhekaj, and the Sheriff ripped one through everyone to tie the game at two apiece.
That tying goal appeared to wake the Comets up a little, and they looked hungry to reverse the momentum from there out. Dobes had to make some nice saves to withstand the pressure, and somewhat took over the period from there as the Rocket couldn’t stay out of their own way. He was their best penalty killer for three minor penalties in the period, allowing the Rocket to head to the room with the game still tied at two.
Still killing one of those penalties to start the third, the Rocket took some pressure off Dobes by not letting the Comets anywhere near their net. In fact, a breakaway chance of the shorthanded variety from Brandon Gignac was the best chance of that shortened power play. Back to five-on-five, the Rocket needed to find a way to keep it there, and to get back to applying some of the pressure they had earlier in the game.
They couldn’t do the second part of that, however, and Michael Vukojevic created a chance for himself after gaining the Rocket zone. His initial shot was stopped by Dobes, but with no defenders around to assist, the rebound was easily deposited into the net, putting the Comets up 3-2 with little more than half a period to play.
But there was no quit in the Rocket. With just over five minutes to play, Xavier Simoneau was working off the half wall and towards the net, sending the puck back to the point for Mailloux. The ensuing shot appeared to go off the stick of Philippe Maillet, but regardless of who it hit on the way, it tied the game at three and gave some much needed life to the Rocket.
Laval turned up the heat from that point, looking to end things inside of regulation, but it was Schmid’s turn to make some key saves for the Comets to keep things even. That meant overtime, and potentially a shootout, two settings in which the Rocket were winless in five tries prior to this game.
Chances were aplenty in overtime, but it solved nothing and sent the game to the skills competition. Sean Farrell opened things up with a goal for Laval, giving his team the edge they needed. The next three shooters missed, giving Maillet a chance to win it as the final shooter for the Rocket.
With his quick release, Maillet secured a third win in a row for Laval, and their first of the season in overtime or the shootout.
Final score: Laval 4, Comets 3 (SO)
They’ll hope to make it four straight this weekend, as they’ll stick around in Utica and take on the Comets again this Sunday.
Thoughts
- I had previously opined, on the topic of Justin Barron’s play, that Xhekaj should be brought up to replace him. I’m willing to eat some crow on that, not only because Barron has been playing better, but because Xhekaj appears to be learning a lot on the farm. He’s an imposing presence in the AHL, his offensive game is looking more refined, and he looks like he’s really figuring out how to defend without chasing and putting himself out of position. This run with the Rocket might be just what he needed to find another level to his game. When you’re wrong, you’re wrong.
- Joshua Roy technically should have been awarded two assists, as he tapped the puck back to Maillet on the Davidson goal. Regardless, the good news is he was very much involved, and looks like he could step into the NHL lineup whenever the team feels they’re ready to have him take that leap.
- Jakub Dobes was very solid in this game. With seven straight power plays awarded to Utica starting in the first period through to the end of the game, this could have been out of hand without his efforts. It has been a bit of an up-and-down season, but he was definitely up for this one.
