Davidson Celebrates First AHL Hat Trick | RECAP: LAV @ HFD

GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket 5 vs Hartford Wolf Pack 2

Forward lines
81 Xavier Simoneau - 61 Philippe Maillet - 19 Emil Heineman
49 Jared Davidson - 27 Mitchell Stephens - 17 Nathan Legare
21 Riley Kidney - 42 Lucas Condotta - 12 Filip Cederqvist
68 Riley McKay - 14 Jan Mysak - 43 Voyer

Defense pairings
84 William Trudeau - 52 Justin Barron
44 Olivier Galipeau - 24 Logan Mailloux
29 Mattias Norlinder - 4 Paquette-Bisson

Goaltenders
71 Jakub Dobes
73 Kasimir Kaskisuo

Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Strauss Mann, Lias Andersson

Injuries: Sean Farrell (upper-body), Brady Keeper (lower body), Gabriel Bourque

It's been a week since the Rocket experienced a wild two-game series in Toronto that saw them both lose horribly and win tremendously against the Marlies. Friday night their road trip finally got back underway with the start of a three-in-three weekend series.

The Hartford Wolf Pack didn't waste any time getting the game started. Anton Blidh banged home a rebound past Jakub Dobes just 52 seconds after the opening puck drop to put the home team up 1-0. Moments later Hartford looked to have scored again, and Laval was only saved by the fact that the net had come off before the puck crossed the line.

Connor Mackey and Riley McKay dropped the gloves for a spirited fight midway through the opening period, but penalties against the Rocket and an overall inability to sustain much pressure in the offensive zone, even five-on-five, meant that Hartford really seemed to control the game.

Mitchell Stephens gave Laval some life at the end of the period when he scored a power play goal with one minute left on the clock.

Bad news came early in the second period when Laval announced that defenseman Mattias Norlinder had suffered a lower body injury and would not return to the game. Dobes proved to be the story in the middle frame as he stopped a number of good scoring chances by the Wolf Pack. 

Thanks to his netminder's efforts, Jared Davidson was then able to walk in and snipe a shot from the right circle to give Laval a 2-1 lead late in the second period. Tobie Paquette-Bisson added to that score when he put the puck over the goal line with a minute left on the clock.

Davidson repeated his goal-scoring prowess in the third period with another perfectly-placed shot, this time on the man advantage. He then put a punctuation mark on the game when he potted an empty-netter late in the period to complete the hat trick.

Rocket (21-19-4-2)
Shots: 24
Power play: 2-for-3
Penalty minutes: 19

Wolf Pack (24-15-5-0)
Shots: 36
Power play: 0-for-6
Penalty minutes: 13

Rocket Scorers
1st period: Stephens (7)-PPG
2nd period: Davidson (6), Bisson (6)
3rd period: Davidson (7)-PPG, Davidson (8)-ENG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Wolf Pack Scorers
1st period: Blidh (6)
2nd period: No scoring
3rd period: Berard (15)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
LAV: Dobes (W) 14-10-4-0
HFD: Domingue (L) 13-6-2-1

Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Depleted Lineup Doesn't Deter Rocket | LAV @ TOR

The Rocket continue their Atlantic Division road trip on Saturday with a visit to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Puck drop on Saturday, February 17th, is scheduled for 6:00 pm ET at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Be sure to bookmark THN.com/Montreal for year-round coverage of the Montreal Canadiens, Laval Rocket, and Habs prospects playing in leagues around the world.