Laval found themselves completely dominated by Hershey, as the Bears scored the equivalent of a touchdown against the Quebec team.
GAME RECAP | Laval Rocket vs Hershey Bears
Rocket Lineup
Forward lines
10 Joshua Roy - 37 Brandon Gignac - 61 Philippe Maillet
21 Riley Kidney - 42 Lucas Condotta - 20 Gabriel Bourque
14 Jan Mysak - 23 Nolan Yaremko - 43 Alex-Olivier Voyer
68 Riley McKay - 17 Nathan Legare
Defense pairings
72 Arber Xhekaj - 24 Logan Mailloux
29 Mattias Norlinder - 44 Olivier Galipeau
84 William Trudeau - 4 Paquette-Bisson
13 Nicolas Beaudin
Goaltenders
38 Strauss Mann
71 Jakub Dobes
Out of the lineup:
Scratches: Brady Keeper, Jakov Novak, Jared Davidson
Injuries: Lias Andersson, Sean Farrell, Xavier Simoneau
Game Report
Coming off of a big victory against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Rocket were back in action on Saturday night for the second game in their road trip. On this occasion, they were in Hershey, PA to take on the Bears. The defending Calder Cup champions have been in fine form this season, and currently sit at the top of the league.
Laval's coach, Jean-Francois Houle, made just two small changes to his lineup: icing seven defenseman, and giving Jakub Dobes a well-deserved night off, with Strauss Mann getting the start in goal.
Hershey made their presence, and skill, known early. Just two over two minutes into the game, Garrett Roe opened the scoring for Hershey. His first of the season, he finished a quick sequence on a two-on-one.
It took until 14:35 for the Rocket to register their first shot on goal, after Hershey already had accrued nine shots on Mann. Roe then tallied his second of the night when his shot hit the post and came into contact with Mann's skate as the goaltender was moving backward toward the post. The skate pushed the puck over the line, and the Bears had a 2-0 lead.
Things settled down a bit in the scoring department for the second half of the frame, but Laval struggled to gain control of the puck or the pace. A late tripping penalty by Tobie Paquette-Bisson put the Rocket down a man, and Hershey's Ivan Miroshnichenko went top shelf with just 44 seconds left on the clock to make it 3-0 for the Bears.
It took a little longer for Hershey to score in the second period, but they did just that when Riley Sutter scored his fifth of the year through traffic in front of Mann.
Laval finally got on the board late in the period when William Trudeau shot the puck from an extremely sharp angle and managed to find just enough of an opening to get past Hunter Shepard.
That goal would be the only glimmer of hope provided to the Rocket, as the Bears unloaded three additional goals in the third period, including two power play goals. The final tally was Roe's third of the night, and hats rained done on the ice with just 30 seconds left in the game.
Game Statistics
Rocket (7-13-3-2)
Shots: 15
Power play: 0-for-1
Penalty minutes: 10
Bears (21-6-0-0)
Shots: 35
Power play: 3-for-5
Penalty minutes: 2
Scoring Summary
Rocket Scorers
1st period: No scoring
2nd period: Trudeau (2)
3rd period: No scoring
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Bears Scorers
1st period: Roe (1), Roe (2), Miroshnichenko (8)-PPG
2nd period: Sutter (5)
3rd period: Limoges (7)-PPG, Limoges (8), Roe (3)-PPG
OT: n/a
SO: n/a
Goaltenders
LAV: Mann (L) 2-8-2-0
LV: Shepard (W) 11-2-0-0
Rocket Player of the Game
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Video Highlights
Video highlights courtesy of the Hershey Bears
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jqEBbcbp7I[/embed]
Looking Back
Did you miss the Rocket's last game? Catch up on the recap here: Dobes Solid In Rocket Victory | RECAP: LAV @ LV
Up Next
The Laval Rocket wrap up their road trip in New York on Wednesday night, when they take on the Syracuse Crunch.
Puck drop on Wednesday, December 20, is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET at Upstate Medical University Arena in Syracuse, 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.
