loading . . . Rocket @ Phantoms recap & highlights: A stunning debut for Sammy Blais in Laval A week after their dominant home-ice wins over the Belleville Senators, including a 7-2 drubbing on Teddy Bear Toss night, the Laval Rocket headed out for their customary post-Thanksgiving trip to the States. It was an important trip for the Rocket as they looked to consolidate their spot at the top of the AHL’s North Division.
While the Rocket were still without Jared Davidson, Florian Xhekaj, and Adam Engström, they received some reinforcements in the form of Joshua Roy and Sammy Blais who was reclaimed off waivers from Toronto, allowing the Canadiens to send him right to the Rocket on their road trip. Blais lined up with Lucas Condotta and Xavier Simoneau for his Rocket debut, while Roy slotted in with Owen Beck and Filip Mešár. On defence it was William Trudeau and David Reinbacher on the first pair, while Tobie Bisson and Josiah Dider made up the second. In net it was Jacob Fowler getting the start.
The opening three minutes were full of chances for both sides, with Fowler fending off a few looks in close as the speed of the Phantoms opened up opportunities. Meanwhile, the Rocket were using some chipped passes to create odd-man rushes, but both Roy and Sean Farrell overpassed on their chances, without forcing Carson Bjarnason into a difficult save.
The pace of the game continued to be frenetic in the opening 10 minutes, with chances being created out of thin air for both sides. After Fowler made a save through traffic the puck was cleared out to the neutral zone and Farrell was there to advance it forward. Farrell held up at the blue line before Alex Belzile tagged up to get onside. Farrell moved forward, bumping a pass over to Laurent Dauphin, who fed it back to Belzile, and Belzile ripped a heavy shot by Bjarnason to open the scoring.
While the Rocket were getting the more dangerous looks, the Phantoms were generating longer shifts inside the offensive zone. With Zayde Wisdom coming open in the slot, Simoneau landed a cross-check low on the back of the Phantoms forward to put Lehigh Valley on the game’s first power play. The Phantoms advantage attacked with impressive speed, opening up plenty of looks, with Carl Grundstrom cutting behind Trudeau and tapping in a feed from Anthony Richard to tie the game.
The game was not going to remain tied for long as the Rocket began instantly pushing for a second goal to get their lead back. Trudeau quickly moved the puck up the boards, where Simoneau chipped it along to Blais. The debutant sped off, rounded the Phantoms’ defender on his hip, skirted around the netminder, and neatly tucked the puck in the empty net for his first goal of the season.
Blais’s goal was the difference as the two sides headed into the first intermission, Lehigh Valley held a shot advantage, but it was the Rocket leading after 20 minutes.
Not even a minute into the second period, Owen Beck was boarded from behind by Garrett Wilson, giving the Rocket their first power play of the night and a chance to advance their lead further. Laval’s man advantage looked incredibly dangerous, with Dauphin ripping a pair of close chances off of Bjarnason’s pads, and then Mešár clipped a shot off the post. While the Rocket didn’t convert, they didn’t have to wait long to get another look as Denver Barkey was called for hooking on Luke Tuch.
Laval’s second chance wasn’t nearly as fluid as their first attempt as Dauphin misplayed a puck leading to a short-handed rush that forced Fowler to make a big save on Wisdom and then Anthony Richard on the follow-up to deny them a goal. The pair of power plays had allowed the Rocket to close the gap in shots, but were still stuck with just a one-goal lead in the second period.
The Phantoms continued to hand Laval opportunities on the power play as Grundstrom hooked Blais in the neutral zone. Despite the protests of the Phantoms’ bench, it was Laval still headed to the advantage and on their third try Alex Belzile poked one in through traffic to double the lead.
Down a pair of goals it was the Phantoms’ turn to start an aggressive counter-attack and the continued pressure forced Didier into a tripping penalty, putting the Rocket penalty kill back to work. The power play was again attacking quickly and from all angles, but Fowler was unflappable in net as he kept the Rocket lead at two goals approaching the second intermission.
Just as the Rocket were beginning to settle the game a bit, Marc Del Gaizo caught Alex Bump up high with his stick, giving the home side a power play with just over a minute left to play. Before Laval managed to kill off the time, Richard kicked off a kerfuffle after he was hit high in the offensive zone. Despite Richard screaming at the officials and cross-checking a Rocket player, the response by both Didier and Simoneau was punished and handed the Phantoms a five-on-three power play.
The ensuing advantage also wasn’t without controversy as the Phantoms believed they scored as Kyrou lifted a rebound by Fowler. There was a lengthy review as it appeared the light had gone on to signal the end of the period before the puck crossed the line and would wipe out Kyrou’s goal. Despite the light obviously being on before the goal, the officials ruled it a good goal and sent the Rocket into the intermission still leading, but furious.
With some time left on the remaining Rocket penalties they needed to start the third period with a strong penalty kill to slow down the strong push from the Phantoms. They gave Lehigh Valley nothing to work with and escaped the final kill unscathed. However, at even strength, Richard slid a puck through a sprawling Fowler and just barely over the line to tie the game.
The Phantoms goal seemingly put the Rocket on the back foot as they struggled to string together their usual crisp passes and breakouts. The Phantoms continued to push the physicality in the meantime, include Wisdom taking a slash at Fowler and then Hunter McDonald getting called for roughing in the aftermath.
The power play could not have come at better time for the Rocket who needed to re-establish their offensive-zone presence while trying to take the lead back. Laval’s top unit was all over the Phantoms with Belzile just missing his hat-trick goal by inches, while Bjarnason received a fortuitous whistle as he failed to cover a loose puck in the crease. There was not a strong follow-up from the second wave, forcing the Rocket to chase another goal at even strength.
It was the Phantoms who found the goal however, despite the Rocket not actually doing much wrong on the play. A shot from the point hit both Farrell and the stick of Belzile, landing squarely on the stick of Lane Pederson. The Phantoms forward had little issue firing a shot by Fowler and giving the home side a 4-3 lead.
The Rocket had a hard time pressing as the Phantoms gave them zero space to operate, but thanks to Bump flying into Fowler as he played the puck, the Rocket were put back on the power play with just a few minutes left to play. Just as the Rocket were beginning to find their cycle inside the offensive zone, Adam Ginning shoved Alex Belzile into the net, knocking it off its moorings and stopping play. Belzile was less than thrilled with the officials allowing him to be interfered with off the puck, but his protests fell on deaf ears.
Laval threw everything they had at Bjarnason as the power play was coming to an end, with Beck nearly poking one through the Phantoms goalie as the play returned to five-on-five. With the puck still inside the offensive zone, Pascal Vincent opted to use his timeout to find a possible six-on-five solution with 80 seconds to play.
The Rocket’s patience paid off in spades as they managed to find a miracle tying goal with just 31 seconds left. Roy knocked down a clearing attempt at the point, then off his back foot threw a shot on net. Blais, cutting across the slot, got his stick up and batted the puck down off the ice and in to tie the game up.
Blais’s goal secured the Rocket a hard-fought point and also sent the two sides into overtime with a second point at stake.
The overtime period was not nearly as jam-packed with chances as both teams opted to circle in and out of the zone while looking for chances. Bump saw his best looks denied by the quick glove of Fowler while Blais missed his hat trick by mere inches in the final seconds of overtime. That meant for the first time this year, the Rocket would head to the shootout with a point on the line.
Fowler gave all three Lehigh Valley players nothing to work with, as his pokecheck forced Richard’s shot over the net, then he stymied Bump with the blocker. For the Rocket, Belzile rang his shot off the post, then it was Blais who waited out Bjarnason before roofing the backhand shot by him. Alexey Gendron fired wide off net with the Phantoms’ last attempt, giving the Rocket a tough 5-4 win.
Final Score: Laval 5, Lehigh Valley 4 (Shootout)
The Rocket head to Hershey for a Sunday game with the Bears. Puck drop is set for 5 PM ET in Hershey, and Kaapo Kähkönen is the expected starter for Laval. http://dlvr.it/TPXky3
