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Rocket vs. Moose recap & highlights: Four unanswered goals get Laval back in win column

Posted on by Jared Book
Florian Xhekaj celebrates his third period goal. (Photo by James Hajjar / Arena du Rocket Inc.)

The Laval Rocket bounced back from a couple of disappointing games with a 5-1 win over the Manitoba Moose on Friday night in front of a sold out Place Bell.

The win kept Laval one point behind the Rochester Americans, although the teams are tied in wins and the Rocket have a game in hand. Rochester also won their game on Friday night.

Laval opened the scoring early in the game when the fourth line of Riley Kidney, Alex Beaucage, and Logan Nijhoff got the team off to a quick start. Kidney had the puck in the corner and found Beaucage at the right circle who fired a shot past Manitoba goaltender Domenic DiVincentiis.

It was Beaucage’s second goal of the season. The ECHL call up has played 16 games for Laval this season.

Manitoba responded quickly. Just 1:13 after Beaucage’s goal, Simon Lundmark fired a shot from the top of the slot off the post and past Cayden Primeau. It was the first shot of the game for the Moose. Primeau ended the night with 20 saves.

Just over midway through the first period, Laval re-took the lead when Sean Farrell found Joshua Roy in the slot, who wired his 16th goal of the season past DiVincentiis. It was a power play goal for the Rocket.

Despite the three goals in the first period, there were only 11 total shots, with Manitoba holding a 6-5 edge. Laval controlled play in the second period, holding a 13-8 advantage in shots helped by two power plays, but they were unable to convert.

Farrell continued his strong play in the third period. With 8:40 remaining, he forced a turnover at the defensive blue line, giving himself a breakaway. He fought off the check, protected the puck, and fired a shot past DiVincentiis.

It was Farrell’s 11th goal of the season, and he now has seven goals and five assists in eight February games.

Less than two minutes later, Florian Xhekaj finished off a William Trudeau pass for his 13th goal of the season.

Xhekaj’s goal came on the heels of another solid shift from the fourth line, who hemmed the Moose in their zone and allowed for the change. Of Xhekaj’s 13 goals this season, nine have come in the third period or overtime.

With 2:44 remaining, the Moose pulled DiVincentiis for the extra attacker and it coincided with a Rocket penalty, giving Manitoba a six-on-four advantage. They wouldn’t really threaten, and Laurent Dauphin iced the game with a long-range shot at the empty net that found the back of the cage.

It was Dauphin’s 15th goal of the season in his first game back from injury. The goal came with 2:03 remaining.

Laval has one game left in their insane stretch of five games in seven days when they travel to Syracuse to face the Crunch on Saturday night. Laval has won two of the four games this week.

Notes:

  • Noel Hoefenmayer left the game with an injury and did not return. The Rocket do have additional defenders on the roster should he be forced to miss Saturday’s game.
  • David Reinbacher, playing his second game of the season, looked a lot more comfortable as he returns from his knee injury. It won’t take him long to get back up to speed given the improvement from his first game on Wednesday.
  • With Dauphin back in the lineup, the Rocket returned to 12 forwards and six defenders compared to Wednesday. Primeau got the start after Connor Hughes started the last game.

Standings

AHL

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