Credit: l'Arena du Rocket, Inc.
Coming off a successful weekend when the Laval Rocket pulled off an improbable comeback win over Belleville and shut out the Utica Comets, they returned to the home confines of Place Bell. They took to the ice on Wednesday night in brand new alternate jerseys to celebrate their 10th anniversary as a franchise. The big news for the night, in addition to the returns of David Reinbacher and Owen Beck from Montreal, was the return of Tyler Thorpe to the lineup, drawing in over Josh Nadeau on the third line with Dillian Bentley. In net it was Kaapo Kähkönen as expected, while the Syracuse Crunch countered with Mads Søgaard.
As the Rocket began to grow into the game and looked primed to open up the scoring, they were dealt a potentially serious injury blow as Alex Belzile exited the game. The reason was Jarred Tinordi giving the Rocket forward a two-handed shove from behind into the boards, with Belzile’s knee absorbing the impact. Belzile left the ice without any weight on his left leg, and Tinordi was assessed a two-minute minor penalty.
Despite the Rocket power play being among the AHL’s most dangerous, they weren’t able to generate much of any real danger on Søgaard, leaving the game still without a goal as the end of the first period loomed.
However, a mental lapse inside the defensive zone by Max Szuber was going to send Syracuse to a power play of their own. The Rocket were unable to corral the puck to get their penalty kill on the ice, and with the extra attacker it was the Crunch who struck first thanks to a deft tip at the side of the net. Brendan Furry fired a shot toward the net with the Rocket scrambling to get control of it, and before they could it was Sam O’Reilly tipping it by Kähkönen to open the scoring. That scoreline would hold as the Rocket entered the first intermission with a huge shot advantage but zero goals to show for it.
As the two rivals came out for the second period, the Rocket learned they would be without Belzile for the rest of the night. In his place on the first line went Beck alongside Laurent Dauphin and Sasha Pastujov.
Laval continued to put together a strong even-strength shift as the opening minutes passed, and thanks to their efforts they drew a second penalty, before a Braden Haché penalty evened it up before the power play could hit the ice.
That extra ice in a four-on-four was all the Rocket offence needed to punish the Crunch as the defence continued to be a driving force behind the Rocket goals. Reilly Walsh freed up Xavier Simoneau in the slot, with Simoneau deferring off to Filip Mešár on his wing as the offensive zone opened up. The young Slovak patiently waited and returned the puck back to Walsh in the slot and he made no mistake as he roofed a shot by Søgaard to tie things up.
The Crunch continued to play right into the Rocket’s hands as the home side dominated the shot counter and control of the puck at every turn. Even a fight wasn’t enough to spark the Crunch as they took a penalty immediately on the next shift.
Giving the Rocket power play another chance was unwise as Luke Mittelstadt and Pastujov continued their dominant run of form. Walsh battled through a stick check to clear a puck back to the point where an incredible knockdown by Mittelstadt kept it in the zone. From there he spun off a defender and put a one-time pass in front of Pastujov, who buried his fifth goal of the season.
With just a one-goal leading and plenty of time left in the game, the Rocket kept their foot on the pedal as they hounded Syracuse players at every turn, forcing turnovers and creating odd-man chances for themselves. While Søgaard continued to hold the line as best he could, the Rocket entered the second intermission with a lead, and a massive shot advantage as well.
For the Rocket, one goal was clearly not a big enough cushion entering the third period and they continued to pound the Crunch at every turn through the opening minutes. Even players like Haché were piling up the scoring chances, and still limiting any opposing offence to low-danger shots on Kähkönen.
Eventually the skill and pace of the Rocket broke through as Samuel Poulin picked out a streaking Walsh along the wall, with Walsh barrelling towards the net uncontested while Brett Berard tied up the defender’s stick. Walsh waited just long enough for an opening to appear, and banked a shot in for his second goal of the evening to make it a 3-1 contest.
The Rocket cruised from there, but with just under nine minutes left to play they handed the Crunch a power-play opportunity, and a potential lifeline late in the third period. Even with the Crunch’s offensive talent, the Rocket penalty-killers did an incredible job smothering the opposing attack and limited them to just one shot on the man advantage.
Being perhaps a bit too lax heading into the final five-and-a-half minutes, an early official’s whistle saved them from paying for it. After Kähkönen mishandled a wrist shot, Berard nearly kicked it into his own net, forcing Kähkönen to make a sprawling save on top of the puck. The Crunch dug out the loose puck and poked it by the glove of the Rocket netminder, but the officials ruled intent to blow on a frozen puck and it remained a 3-1 contest.
On the very next draw, with Søgaard on the bench, it was Beck who put the puck into the empty net and put the game on ice with a 4-1 scoreline.
That wasn’t the end of the scoring, however, as Reinbacher battled for a loose puck and found himself all alone on a breakaway. He settled the puck, waited for his chance, and roofed a shot in off the crossbar to add an exclamation point on the night.
**Final Score: Laval 5, Syracuse 1**
Laval’s win moves them to 6-1-0 on the season and keeps the team atop the AHL’s North Division heading into their next set of games on the homestand. In front of the Rocket next is the AHL’s newest franchise, the Hamilton Hammers, who will be in town on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop is set for 7 PM ET on Friday night.