Kaskisuo Steady In Season Debut | RECAP: SYR @ LAV

The Finnish goaltender, signed to a PTO by Laval earlier this month, had a strong performance in his first game of the season.

GAME RECAP | Syracuse Crunch vs Laval Rocket

Forward lines
15 Sean Farrell - 37 Brandon Gignac - 19 Emil Heineman
21 Riley Kidney - 42 Lucas Condotta - 20 Gabriel Bourque
81 Xavier Simoneau - 61 Philippe Maillet - 10 Joshua Roy
68 Riley McKay - 23 Nolan Yaremko - 17 Nathan Legare

Defense pairings
72 Arber Xhekaj - 24 Logan Mailloux
84 William Trudeau - 4 Paquette-Bisson
29 Mattias Norlinder - 44 Olivier Galipeau

Goaltenders
73 Kasimir Kaskisuo
38 Strauss Mann

Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Jared Davidson, Brady Keeper, Jan Mysak, Lias Andersson, Jakub Dobes

Injuries: None

The Laval Rocket returned to Place Bell on Friday and defeated the Syracuse Crunch 3-2 in front of a sold out crowd. With the victory, the Rocket extended their winning streak against the Crunch, on home ice, to 11 games. 

Friday marked Joel Bouchard and Daniel Jacob's first game back in Laval since leaving the organization. The duo were behind the bench of the Canadiens AHL affiliate for three seasons. 

Jean-Francois Houle turned to the newly acquired Kasimir Kaskisuo for the start in goal. Lias Andersson was held out of the lineup to manage his workload following his lower body injury and is expected to return on Saturday. Jan Mysak and Brady Keeper were scratched while Gabriel Bourque, Nolan Yaremko, and Olivier Galipeau were inserted. 

The Crunch opened the scoring in the first period with the man advantage when Gabriel Fortier redirected from the slot a puck top corner behind Kaskisuo. The Rocket answered back later in the period with a power play goal of their own when Arber Xhekaj found Philippe Maillet at the faceoff dot and he put the puck at the back of the net. 

The hosts took the lead late in the second period on a sequence that began with Xhekaj's shot striking Yaremko on the back and bounced on Joshua Roy's stick in the blue paint. The Canadiens fifth round pick (150th overall) in 2021's draft went around the coverage to beat Hugo Alnefelt. 

Xhekaj put the 10,219 fans at Place Bell to their feet in the third period by dropping the gloves against Shawn Element. 

Nathan Legare scored the game winning goal later in the period on an individual effort that concluded with him circling around the defender and going bar down. It was Legare's first even strength goal of the year after scoring three shorthanded goals since the start of the season. 

Gage Goncalves cut the lead to one goal in the final minute while Syracuse had the extra attacker on the ice. 

Kaskisuo was excellent in his first start in the Rocket uniform making 36 saves including several key stops. His calm demeanor on the ice seemed to give confidence to his teammates. 

Rocket (10-14-3-2)
Shots: 20
Power play: 1-for-4
Penalty minutes: 20

Crunch (16-10-2-2)
Shots: 38
Power play: 1-for-4
Penalty minutes: 30

Rocket Scorers
1st period: Maillet (5)-PPG
2nd period: Roy (9)
3rd period: Legare (4)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Crunch Scorers
1st period: Fortier (3)-PPG
2nd period: No scoring
3rd period: Goncalves (7)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
LAV: Kaskisuo (W) 1-0-0-0
SYR: Alnefelt (L) 4-5-3-0

Video highlights courtesy of the Laval Rocket

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

Jean-Francois Houle

Arber Xhekaj

Kasimir Kaskisuo

Joshua Roy

Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Heineman Scores In Return To Rocket | RECAP: LAV @ BEL

The Laval Rocket wrap up their weekend series against the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday.

Puck drop on Saturday, December 30, is scheduled for 3:00 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.