Players named Suzuki and Bitten combined for six points against the Laval Rocket on Saturday night.

GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket (3) vs Springfield Thunderbirds (7)

Rocket Lineup

Forward lines
81 Xavier Simoneau - 61 Philippe Maillet - 19 Emil Heineman
15 Sean Farrell - 37 Brandon Gignac - 28 Lias Andersson
49 Jared Davidson - 27 Mitchell Stephens - 12 Filip Cederqvist
68 Riley McKay - 14 Jan Mysak - 17 Nathan Legare

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

Goaltenders
71 Jakub Dobes
38 Strauss Mann

Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Riley Kidney, Chris Jandric, Lucas Condotta

Injuries: Brady Keeper (lower body), Gabriel Bourque, Kasimir Kaskisuo

Game Report

Wrapping up this week's road trip, after suffering a one-goal loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday night, the Rocket found themselves in Springfield to face off against the Thunderbirds for the first time this season.

Nothing changed in Jean-Francois Houle's lineup, and Jakub Dobes received his third consecutive start of the week.

The Rocket drew first blood in this matchup when they were gifted an early power play, thanks to a roughing call on Sam Bitten. Bitten is the younger brother, and teammate, of former Montreal Canadiens prospect Will Bitten. On the man-advantage, Mitchell Stephens fed Lias Andersson with a cross-crease pass and Andersson made no mistake.

Springfield's roster has plenty of family connections to the Montreal Canadiens organization. The Thunderbirds tied the game thanks to a goal by Ryan Suzuki, younger brother of Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki. Less than a minute later, Dylan Coghlan gave the home team their first lead of the night with a power play goal of his own.

The pace of the game was lively, and soon Laval found an equalizer after Philippe Maillet deked around Vadim Zherenko off a pass from Andersson. Two different fights broke out in the opening period as well, one involving Andersson and the other with Riley Kidney.

The first handful of minutes in the second period seemed quiet enough, but that was before Springfield broke things open. First Adam Gaudette scored his 31st goal of the season, a new record for the Thunderbirds, and then Will Bitten extended the Thunderbirds' lead.

Through 40 minutes of play, the Rocket were outshooting their opponents 41-16 but trailed by two goals. Significant defensive breakdowns led to an early third period goal by Springfield, putting the Rocket down 5-2. 

Laval didn't give up, however, and a few minutes later Mattias Norlinder pulled the team back within two goals. The Rocket then had a prime chance to make a dent in the goal deficit when they suddenly had 1:43 of five-on-three power play time. Laval wasn't able to convert, however, and instead Bitten and Abramov took the puck to the other end of the ice to restore their three-goal lead.

Andersson then had his night end early when he put a dangerously high hit on a Thunderbirds skater and was assessed a five-minute major and a game misconduct. Springfield went on to score another goal on the ensuing power play to really put this game out of reach for Laval.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzuVF2gruAQ[/embed]

Game Statistics

Rocket (23-24-5-2)
Shots: 56
Power play: 1-for-5
Penalty minutes: 31

Thunderbirds (25-23-3-2)
Shots: 27
Power play: 2-for-5
Penalty minutes: 34

Scoring Summary

Rocket Scorers
1st period: Andersson (15)-PPG, Maillet (15)
2nd period: No scoring
3rd period: Norlinder (2)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Thunderbirds Scorers
1st period: Suzuki (7), Coghlan (13)-PPG
2nd period: Gaudette (31), Bitten (12)
3rd period: Callin (5), Abramov (9), Washkurak (3)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
LAV: Dobes (L) 16-13-5-1
SPR: Zherenko (W) 11-7-1-1

Looking Back

Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Tempers Flare In Tight Contest | RECAP: LAV @ HFD

Up Next

The Rocket now head back to Laval for a five-game home stand which kicks off on Wednesday night with a visit from the Toronto Marlies.

Puck drop on Wednesday, March 6th, is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET at Place Bell in Laval, QC.

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.