After losing a string of games to the Laval Rocket, the Belleville Senators didn't waste any time getting the ice tilted in their direction on Saturday afternoon.
GAME RECAP | Belleville Senators: 5 vs Laval Rocket: 2 (FINAL)
Rocket Lineup
Forward lines
15 Sean Farrell - 37 Brandon Gignac - 19 Emil Heineman
28 Lias Andersson - 61 Philippe Maillet - 34 Jacob Perreault
20 Gabriel Bourque - 27 Mitchell Stephens - 12 Filip Cederqvist
21 Riley Kidney - 42 Lucas Condotta - 16 Arnaud Durandeau
Defense pairings
84 William Trudeau - 24 Logan Mailloux
44 Olivier Galipeau - 52 Justin Barron
4 Tobie Paquette-Bisson - 64 David Reinbacher
Goaltenders
73 Kasimir Kaskiuo
71 Jakub Dobes
Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Mattias Norlinder, Riley McKay
Injuries: Brady Keeper (lower body), Jared Davidson, Xavier Simoneau (shoulder)
Game Report
The Belleville Senators avoided the sweep with a 5-2 victory against the Laval Rocket on Saturday at Place Bell. The loss ended the Rocket's five game win streak against their division rivals.
Jean-Francois Houle changed up his lineup for the rematch. Arnaud Durandeau and Olivier Galipeau returned to action, replacing Riley McKay and Mattias Norlinder. Kasimir Kaskisuo got the start between the pipes.
The visitors opened the scoring midway through the first period as Maxence Guenette used Galipeau as a screen to shoot the puck past Kaskisuo.
Laval tied the score with under three minutes remaining in regulation when Lucas Condotta tipped Tobie Paquette-Bisson's shot across the goal line. The forward threw the monkey off his back as he headed to the bench to celebrate his first tally since January 19th.
Belleville took the lead back before the first intermission as Cole Reinhardt pounced on a rebound to tap the disc into an open net.
The Senators doubled their lead early in the second period when Jacob Larsson found Jiri Smejkal uncovered behind David Reinbacher. The forward converted on his breakaway opportunity.
Later in the period, Oskar Pettersson had lots of room to the right of Kasksisuo to fire a one-timer in the back of the net.
Houle called a timeout following the fourth goal and it paid dividends in the short term. While the Rocket buzzed in the offensive zone, Reinbacher took a hard shot that hit the post, Kevin Mandolese stopped Emil Heineman on the first rebound, but Philippe Maillet buried the second rebound.
Laval's attempts to erase the deficit were not successful. Jacob Larsson ended all hope with an empty netter in the final minute.
Fatigue clearly showed for the Montreal Canadiens' AHL affiliate as they completed a sequence of six games in nine days.
After using his timeout, Houle mixed up his forward lines and cut his bench. Riley Kidney, Jacob Perreault and Arnaud Durandeau did not see the ice a lot in the second half of the afternoon.
The Rocket hold on to the fifth spot in the North Division with a two-point lead over the Senators. The Ottawa Senators' AHL affiliate have two games in hand on Laval.
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Game Statistics
Rocket (31-27-6-2)
Shots: 35
Power play: 0-for-1
Penalty minutes: 9
Senators (31-27-3-3)
Shots: 27
Power play: 0-for-1
Penalty minutes: 9
Scoring Summary
Rocket Scorers
1st period: Condotta (6)
2nd period: Maillet (19)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Senators Scorers
1st period: Guenette (7), Reinhardt (7)
2nd period: Smejkal (9), Pettersson (2)
3rd period: Larsson (7)-ENG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Goaltenders
LAV: Kaskisuo (L) 7-3-0-0
BEL: Mandolese (W) 9-8-2-0
Players of the Game
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Post-Game Interviews
Jean-Francois Houle
Gabriel Bourque
Lucas Condotta
Looking Back
Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Widen the Playoff Gap | RECAP: BEL @ LAV
Up Next
The Rocket have two days off before their next practice on Tuesday in preparation for the next game against the Syracuse Crunch.
Puck drop on Friday, April 5th, 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.
