With their season on the line, and a Belleville loss earlier in the day, the Rocket kept their playoff run going on Saturday night.
GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket: 5 vs Cleveland Monsters: 1 (FINAL)
Rocket Lineup
Forward lines
28 Lias Andersson - 61 Philippe Maillet - 19 Emil Heineman
15 Sean Farrell - 21 Riley Kidney - 34 Jacob Perreault
16 Arnaud Durandeau - 42 Lucas Condotta - 12 Filip Cederqvist
68 Riley McKay - 63 Florian Xhekaj - 20 Gabriel Bourque
Defense pairings
84 William Trudeau - 24 Logan Mailloux
4 Tobie Paquette-Bisson - 64 David Reinbacher
29 Mattias Norlinder - 44 Olivier Galipeau
Goaltenders
71 Jakub Dobes
73 Kasimir Kaskiuo
Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Strauss Mann
Injuries: Brady Keeper (lower body), Jared Davidson, Xavier Simoneau (shoulder), Brandon Gignac, Mitchell Stephens
Game Report
The Laval Rocket capped off their Ohio road trip with one last meeting against the Cleveland Monsters for the regular season. Despite winning both games against the Monsters when the teams played in Laval last month, it was Cleveland who swarmed back on Thursday night with a decisive victory. That result allowed them to clinch a Calder Cup playoff berth, while the Rocket's slope to climb back to a playoff qualification spot got even more slippery.
For the rematch Saturday night, Jean-Francois Houle found himself down another forward with Mitchell Stephens banged up and out of the lineup. This allowed for Florian Xhekaj to draw in and make his pro debut in the AHL.
Lucas Condotta got the scoring started early in the first period when he shoveled the puck over the goal line off a pass down low from Arnaud Durandeau.
The Rocket extended their lead early in the second period when Philippe Maillet scored a power play goal to make it 2-0 for Laval. Cleveland, however, still had something to play for despite clinching a playoff berth on Thursday night, and they got on the board late in the period.
Laval answered in kind when Lias Andersson found the back of the net just over a minute later. The third period brought another Andersson goal, plus a tally by Emil Heineman, their 20th and 15th goals of the season, respectively.
The Monsters left their mark at the end of the game, though, when Cole Sillinger easily handled a late-game fight with Jacob Perreault to fire up the more than 14,000 fans in the building.
New Video: Jakub Dobes Settling Into The Pro Game
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6X2qyE8ME8[/embed]
Game Statistics
Rocket (33-29-6-2)
Shots: 24
Power play: 1-for-4
Penalty minutes: 9
Monsters (37-24-5-3)
Shots: 22
Power play: 0-for-0
Penalty minutes: 27
Scoring Summary
Rocket Scorers
1st period: Condotta (8)
2nd period: Maillet (21)-PPG, Andersson (19)
3rd period: Andersson (20), Heineman (15)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Monsters Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: Sillinger (11)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Goaltenders
LAV: Dobes (W) 24-17-6-1
CLE: Cajan (L) 8-8-4-2
Players of the Game
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Looking Back
Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Four Unanswered Goals Prove Costly | RECAP: LAV @ CLE
Up Next
The Rocket return to Quebec for another week of practice before heading out to start their home-and-home series, and final two games of the regular season, against the Senators.
Puck drop on Friday, April 19th, is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET at CAA Arena in Belleville, ON.
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.
