The Laval Rocket took a late lead in tonight's game against the Syracuse Crunch and managed to keep their division rival from coming back.
GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket vs Syracuse Crunch
Rocket Lineup
Forward lines
81 Xavier Simoneau - 37 Brandon Gignac - 10 Joshua Roy
21 Riley Kidney - 42 Lucas Condotta - 20 Gabriel Bourque
14 Jan Mysak - 61 Philippe Maillet - 68 Riley McKay
49 Jared Davidson - 23 Nolan Yaremko - 17 Nathan Legare
Defense pairings
72 Arber Xhekaj - 24 Logan Mailloux
84 William Trudeau - 4 Paquette-Bisson
29 Mattias Norlinder - 25 Brady Keeper
Goaltenders
71 Jakub Dobes
38 Strauss Mann
Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Nicolas Beaudin, Olivier Galipeau, Kasimir Kaskisuo
Injuries: Lias Andersson, Sean Farrell
Game Report
Coming off a forgettable 7-1 loss to Hershey on Saturday night, the Laval Rocket found themselves in Syracuse to finish up their last road trip before Christmas. Xavier Simoneau returned to the lineup after missing both games last week. New goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo, signed to a PTO on Monday, did not dress on this night.
The Crunch opened the scoring when Gabriel Dumont redirected a shot in front of the crease. On this night, Laval had an answer when giving up the first goal, and Tobie Paquette-Bisson buried the equalizer with a wrister from the slot.
Syracuse regained the lead with an early goal in the second period, but Bisson managed to tie the game again before the second intermission. Joshua Roy tried to get a shot off through traffic, but Bisson was the one to clean up the loose puck in front of the net.
Just about midway through the third period, the Rocket took their first lead of the game when Logan Mailloux fed the puck from behind the net to Brandon Gignac. Gignac then quickly pulled the trigger to beat Matt Tomkins. In an impressive bounce-back fashion, the team managed to keep the Crunch from tying the game again, ending their road trip with two points earned in regulation.
Game Statistics
Rocket (8-13-3-2)
Shots: 24
Power play: 0-for-1
Penalty minutes: 6
Crunch (15-9-0-2)
Shots: 29
Power play: 0-for-3
Penalty minutes: 2
Scoring Summary
Rocket Scorers
1st period: Bisson (3)
2nd period: Bisson (4)
3rd period: Gignac (9)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Crunch Scorers
1st period: Dumont (8)
2nd period: Goncalves (5)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Goaltenders
LAV: Dobes (W) 6-5-3-0
SYR: Tomkins (L) 4-3-0-0
Rocket Players of the Game
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Video Highlights
Video highlights courtesy of the Syracuse Crunch
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHZDsofkGAo[/embed]
Looking Back
Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Suffer Six-Goal Deficit | RECAP: LAV @ HER
Up Next
The Laval Rocket now head home for a final game before the Christmas break, where they'll face the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the first time this season.
Puck drop on Friday, December 22, 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.
