The Laval Rocket were looking for an important two points against one of their North Division rivals on Friday night.
The Laval Rocket were looking for an important two points against one of their North Division rivals on Friday night.
GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket 2 vs Syracuse Crunch 4
Rocket Lineup
Forward lines
81 Xavier Simoneau - 61 Philippe Maillet - 28 Lias Andersson
10 Joshua Roy - 37 Brendan Gignac - 19 Emil Heineman
42 Filip Cederqvist - 27 Mitchell Stephens - 20 Gabriel Bourque
21 Riley Kidney - 14 Jan Mysak - 49 Jared Davidson
Defense pairings
4 Paquette-Bisson - 24 Logan Mailloux
84 William Trudeau - 52 Justin Barron
29 Mattias Norlinder - 44 Olivier Galipeau
Goaltenders
71 Jakub Dobes
73 Kasimir Kaskisuo
Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Strauss Mann, Nicolas Beaudin
Injuries: Nathan Legare (lower-body), Sean Farrell (upper-body), Brady Keeper (lower body)
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_iU69UZUik[/embed]
Game Report
After a successful comeback victory on home ice Wednesday, against the Utica Comets, the Laval Rocket took to the road for a back-to-back set against opponents in New York.
First up, on Friday night, was a visit to the Syracuse Crunch. The Rocket had won the last three contests between these teams and looked to continue that streak in the continued race to move up the standings.
Joshua Roy returned to the lineup for the first time since being sent back to the AHL from Montreal, and Jakub Dobes got a second consecutive start between the pipes.
Syracuse put their stamp on the pace of the game right from the start, scoring their first goal just under two minutes after the opening faceoff. Felix Robert skated in close and completed a slick tic-tac-toe sequence to put the Crunch on the board.
Five minutes later, the Rocket found themselves in a two-goal hole when Gabriel Fortier got loose on a breakaway and made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
Laval got on the board late in the period when William Trudeau received the puck in the slot and he fired a quick wrister past Hugo Alnefelt.
The second period started very similarly to the first: Syracuse scored a goal just under two minutes into the frame. This time it was Sean Day who managed to squeeze the puck between the goalpost and Dobes to give the Crunch a 3-1 lead.
It looked like Laval would go to the locker room down two goals, but just 48 seconds before the period ended, the puck deflected off of a Syracuse stick and went into their net. Philippe Maillet was credited with the goal.
Despite some good looks at the net and what could have been opportunistic shots on goal, the Rocket could not mount another magical comeback like they did two days ago. An empty-netter by Syracuse with 15 seconds left on the clock was all it took to hand Laval their first regulation loss since the end of December.
Game Statistics
Rocket (18-15-4-2)
Shots: 31
Power play: 0-for-1
Penalty minutes: 6
Crunch (23-12-2-2)
Shots: 26
Power play: 0-for-2
Penalty minutes: 4
Scoring Summary
Rocket Scorers
1st period: Trudeau (5)
2nd period: Maillet (10)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Crunch Scorers
1st period: Robert (11), Fortier (4)
2nd period: Day (2)
3rd period: Koepke (8)-ENG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Goaltenders
LAV: Dobes (L) 12-7-4-0
SYR: Alnefelt (W) 8-5-3-2
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=p36qZbefBKY[/embed]
Looking Back
Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Rocket Take Control In Final Frame | RECAP: UTC @ LAV
Up Next
The Rocket continue their road trip tomorrow with a quick trip west to take on the Rochester Americans.
Puck drop on Saturday, January 27th, is scheduled for 5:00 pm ET at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY.
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.
