The Laval Rocket hosted the Belleville Senators at Place Bell Sunday afternoon, in their final exhibition game of the preseason.

GAME RECAP | Belleville Senators vs Laval Rocket

Rocket Lineup

Forward lines
10 Joshua Roy 61 Philippe Maillet 48 Filip Mesar
15 Sean Farrell 21 Riley Kidney 28 Lias Andersson
49 Jared Davidson 14 Jan Mysak 17 Nathan Legare
68 Riley McKay 42 Lucas Condotta 85 John Parker-Jones

Defense pairings
84 William Trudeau 24 Logan Mailloux
44 Olivier Galipeau 89 Miguel Tourigny
03 Jayden Struble 25 Brady Keeper

Goaltenders
38 Strauss Mann
75 Jakub Dobes

Out of the lineup
Scratches: Gabriel Bourque, Brandon Gignac, Jakov Novak, Xavier Simoneau, Mitchell Stephens, Nicolas Beaudin, Tobie Bisson, Zachary Emond, Joe Vrbetic

Injuries: none

Game Report

The Laval Rocket wrapped up their short two-game preseason schedule on Sunday with a 5-2 victory against the Belleville Senators at Place Bell. With a load of players that were recalled for Saturday's match in Ottawa, Belleville dressed 16 skaters instead of the standard 18. 

Laval was the better team on the ice for the entire 60 minutes. They controlled the play and had more scoring chances, but their indiscipline kept this match close. 

Jean-Francois Houle joined Joshua Roy, Philippe Maillet and Filip Mesar on the top line for the afternoon. The trio had chemistry throughout the afternoon and it started from the first shift as Roy set up Maillet on a two-on-one rush for a goal.

Roy was the Rocket's best player of the afternoon. He collected two more primary assists in the final 40 minutes by setting up Jayden Struble in the slot for a goal and later stole a puck from a defender before feeding it to Mesar for a goal. 

William Trudeau and Logan Mailloux were paired on the top defensive unit. The duo received a lot of ice time, including on the first wave of the power play and time on the penalty kill. The pair did not deliver results and were on the ice when the Senators scored on the power play. 

Trudeau in particular did not have a good afternoon despite the scoresheet showing one assist and plus-3. 

After the game, Houle hinted that the pairing will get dismantled because they're both defenders that like to get involved in the offensive zone, and that results in opportunities the other way. 

Game Statistics

Rocket (2-0-0)
Shots: 44
Power play: 0/3
Penalty minutes: 14

Senators (0-2-0)
Shots: 24
Power play: 1/6
Penalty minutes: 8

Scoring Summary

Rocket Scorers
1st period: Maillet (1), Legare (2)-SHG
2nd period: Struble (1)
3rd period: Mesar (1), Mysak (1)
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Senators Scorers
1st period: Reinhardt (1)-PPG
2nd period: Boucher (1)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a

Goaltenders
LAV: Mann (W) 1-0-0, Dobes 
BEL: Mandolese (L) 0-1-0

Rocket Players of the Game

Joshua Roy - Had two assists and initiated several scoring chances with excellent puck movement. 

Philippe Maillet - Set the momentum early with a goal.

Jayden Struble - Scored one goal and was tough to play against.

Post-game Interviews

Jean-Francois Houle

Logan Mailloux

Filip Mesar

Joshua Roy

Jakub Dobes

Up Next

The Laval Rocket kick off the 2023-24 regular season on Friday against Abbotsford, the AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks.  

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET on Friday, October 13th at Place Bell.

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