Three games in three days, all on the road, proved to be a task the Laval Rocket were ready and able to face head on.
GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket: 4 vs Toronto Marlies: 1 (FINAL)
Rocket Lineup
Forward lines
42 Lucas Condotta - 37 Brandon Gignac - 15 Sean Farrell
28 Lias Andersson - 61 Philippe Maillet - 19 Emil Heineman
12 Filip Cederqvist - 27 Mitchell Stephens - 20 Gabriel Bourque
16 Arnaud Durandeau - 21 Riley Kidney - 68 Riley McKay
Defense pairings
84 William Trudeau - 24 Logan Mailloux
44 Olivier Galipeau - 52 Justin Barron
4 Paquette-Bisson - 64 David Reinbacher
Goaltenders
73 Kasimir Kaskisuo
71 Jakub Dobes
Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Chris Jandric, Mattias Norlinder, Jacob Perreault
Injuries: Brady Keeper (lower body), Jared Davidson, Xavier Simoneau (shoulder)
Game Report
Sunday afternoon brought the Laval Rocket to Toronto, for the final game of this week's three-in-three series. Exactly one week ago Laval suffered a 7-1 loss to the Marlies, and on this day they were looking to avoid a repeat performance.
After winning back-to-back games against the Belleville Senators this weekend, the Rocket found themselves finally back in fifth place in the North Division. That puts Laval officially in a playoff-qualifying spot, for now.
The opening 20 minutes of this game definitely looked like two teams who were on the last of three consecutives games played. Both benches seemed sluggish, with not a lot of great scoring chances. The game was still at 0-0 when the teams headed to the dressing room for the first intermission, but shot favored Laval 7-3.
Scoring finally opened early in the second period when Alex Steeves put a long shot on net that somehow found its way through Kasimir Kaskisuo and into the net. A few minutes later, however, Riley McKay evened the score with a quick shot in front of Toronto's net that beat Dennis Hildeby.
About a minute later, captain Gabriel Bourque gave Laval their first lead of the day when he trailed up the ice and into the slot, and was ready to receive the puck for a quick goal. Sean Farrell extended the lead to 3-1 in the final minutes of the period, when he put a wrist shot past Hildeby.
Laval's penalty kill came through for them again on this day, denying Toronto on multiple man-advantage opportunities. As a result, the Rocket came away with two much-needed points. The victory meant a sweep of wins for the three games played this weekend and more secure spot for the postseason.
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Game Statistics
Rocket (30-25-6-2)
Shots: 20
Power play: 0-for-2
Penalty minutes: 10
Marlies (29-21-9-2)
Shots: 25
Power play: 0-for-3
Penalty minutes: 8
Scoring Summary
Rocket Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: McKay (4), Bourque (2), Farrell (9)
3rd period: Cederqvist (5)-ENG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Marlies Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: Steeves (22)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Goaltenders
LAV: Kaskisuo (W) 7-2-0-0
TOR: Hildeby (L) 17-10-6-4
Players of the Game
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Looking Back
Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Nab An Important Two Points | RECAP: LAV @ BEL
Up Next
The Rocket have one more game in this road trip before they return home to Place Bell. They'll face the Utica Comets on Wednesday.
Puck drop on Wednesday, March 27th, is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET at Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, NY.
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.
