loading . . . Laval vs. Rochester recap & highlights: Rocket topple Americans in a feisty game Fresh off a strong win on Friday night over the Rochester Americans, the Laval Rocket welcomed their North Division rivals on Saturday afternoon for another crucial game. Laval was unfortunately still suffering from the injury bug as both Tobie Bisson and Josh Jacobs joined Adam Engstrƶm on the injured list. Slotting in their place on the third pair was Josiah Didier and Ryan OāRourke, with the Rocketās defensive depth being tested heavily in March.
The forward group remained the same, and despite Vincent Arseneau taking warmups, the mood of the upcoming game seemingly did not require his set of skills on Saturday afternoon. In net it was Kaapo KƤhkƶnen getting the nod after Jacob Fowlerās return allowed for a bit of a break for the veteran netminder on Friday.
After some rough stuff closed out the game on Friday, the Rocket were laser-focused on not allowing the Amerks to dictate the physicality on Saturday with Sammy Blais and David Reinbacher stepping up to make their presence known early on. Even Filip MeÅ”Ć”r, not known for being an overly tough player, was mixed up with Americans tough guy Mason Geertsen after the young Slovak boxed him out in front of goal. Even with the emphasis on physical play, the Rocket defence was stout as ever, allowing Rochester nothing in terms of quality inside the offensive zone.
After spending the first half of the period spoiling for a fight, Geertsen finally got one, but it also cost Rochester a goal at the same time. As the Rocket whipped the puck around the offensive zone it was Reinbacher sliding a pass to an arriving Sean Farrell in the high slot. Farrell put a shot through traffic, while Florian Xhekaj had drawn Geertsen out of the way leading to Farrellās shot beating Scott Ratzlaff cleanly.
Before Farrell could even celebrate he watched as Xhekaj and Geertsen threw off their gloves and then took a seat for fighting, but not before the Rocket made sure to go through the penalty box for the post-goal fist bumps first.
The Rocket, despite being the more physical side, were also skating circles around Rochester in transition, which allowed MeÅ”Ć”r to draw a penalty and give the Rocket the first power play of the game. Lavalās man advantage was just inches away from doubling the lead just moments into the advantage as Alex Belzile flicked a pass across the crease, but Blais couldnāt get a clean handle on it. While the Rocket pushed hard, the Rochester penalty-killers survived their first test of the game.
Before long, it was the Rocketās turn to kill a minor penalty as Tyler Thorpe took down Jagger Joshua after the Rochester forward got a bit too close to KƤhkƶnen after a save. Laval ended the period having killed off 44 seconds of Thorpeās penalty, and entered the intermission up by a goal.
The Rocket nearly killed off Thorpeās minor as the second period got under way, but with 17 seconds left it was Rochester tying the game. Joshua Roy just missed a pass for a short-handed break, allowing Zac Jones to spin back to the offensive zone and put a shot toward net for Riley Fiddler-Schultz to deflect by KƤhkƶnen.
While the Rocket were coming close to regaining their advantage at even strength, their final touch was missing just slightly. Their continued offensive-zone pressure put them back on the power play with just over eight minutes gone in the period. This time the Rocketās top unit made sure to finish their chances with the veterans leading the way. Laurent Dauphin broke in, feeding the puck across the zone to Alex Belzile. The Rocketās leading goal-scorer dragged the goalie off his post, and put a pass right into the crease for Blais to sweep home to restore the lead.
Unfortunately, on the next shift Jared Davidson was a step late to a loose puck and ended up tripping the man in front of him and putting the penalty-killers back to work. Again the Rocket handled Rochesterās top power play unit with relative ease, trapping them at the other end of the ice to grind down the clock. Then, once again with almost no time left on Davidsonās penalty, a harmless shot from the point was deflected by a wide-open Rochester player to level the game.
Less than two minutes after Olivier Nadeau tied the game, Xhekaj found himself in the box for holding as he tried to fight for a loose puck in the offensive zone. Laval didnāt help their case at all, as just 45 seconds into their kill it was Marc Del Gaizo joining Xhekaj in the box making it a five-on-three kill. Rochesterās top unit seemingly toyed with the Rocket for about 20 seconds before Konsta Helenius buried a one-timer and put Rochester in the lead for the first time on Saturday afternoon.
While Del Gaizo was sprung free out of the box and right into a breakaway, he mishandled his first shot and then fired his second chance straight out of play as the Rocket looked to find a tying goal of their own. Blais came the closest as the period wound down, but Scott Ratzlaff swallowed up his chance. Trailing by a goal, and with some issues on special teams the Rocket had 20 minutes to steady their ship at home.
The third period kicked off with some more bad news for Laval as Josiah Didier would not be returning to the game, leaving them short-handed on defence for the third time in a week. Even down a man though, the Rocket defence was ready to step up, and itt was Del Gaizo donning the hero cape once again. Luke Tuch took a leading pass through the neutral zone and sent it across the offensive zone for Del Gaizo, and the veteran defender went post-and-in to tie the contest.
Del Gaizoās goal tilted the ice heavily for the Rocket, and every shift after was just the Rocket attacking the Amerksā defence with a determined ferocity. Even as the whistles disappeared it was Laval throwing everything they could at Ratzlaff, with the Rochester netminder having to make second- and third-chance stops over and over again.
Despite the Rocket having the puck for 95% of the period, it took one ticky tack bit of stickwork by Nate Clurman to put the Rocket back on the penalty kill, even with much more egregious calls being let go all period. So with just under four minutes left in regulation, a battered penalty-killing unit made its way on the ice to try to shut down the only offensive units Rochester had had all day.
Lavalās top unit was feeling the pressure of that moment, and Belzile took that chance to pick off a puck at the point, but his breakaway chance was stopped, and his rebound cleared away before Laurent Dauphin could clean it up. A bit of providence continued for Laval as the following faceoff saw Helenius sent to the box after he played the puck with his hand, making it a four-on-four with three minutes left.
That extra bit of ice nearly became a tiebreaking goal for Laval as William Trudeau left Jagger Joshua in the dust, but Owen Beck couldnāt convert the final pass as the Rocket then went to a brief power play. The short power play didnāt yield much as Ratzlaffās pads denied Reinbacherās heavy slapshot entering the final minute of regulation. One last shot was swallowed up by Ratzlaff, and the two sides would have to settle a heated contest in overtime.
Right off the hop it was the Rocket top line pushing the Americans back as Belzile threaded a pass through to Reinbacher that was pushed just wide. Belzile picked off a clearing attempt, but his slapshot was swallowed up without a rebound as well. Even as the Rocket pushed, their chances were just barely off the mark and the contest would have to be settled in a shootout.
What followed was an eight-round marathon in which Helenius and Rathbone scored for Rochester, while Belzile and Roy scored early for the Rocket. KƤhkƶnen got a bit of luck from his goalpost as it denied Riley Fiddler-Schultz, and on the next attempt it was Dauphin tucking home the winning goal.
Final Score: Laval 4, Rochester 3 (Shootout)
With injuries piling up, the Rocket thankfully have a lengthy bit of time off as they will not play again until next Friday and Saturday. Theyāll head on the road for a Friday night showdown in Utica with the Comets, with puck drop set for 7 PM ET. http://dlvr.it/TRMVdy
