A hard week for the Laval Rocket continued on Friday night as they welcomed the ever feisty Belleville Senators to Place Bell for a two-game series. The Rocket endured a frustrating defeat on Wednesday night to the Syracuse Crunch, in a game where officiating seemed deadset against Laval. For Laval, they had to prepare quickly for a game that could either keep them in first place or see them slide down to fourth when the night was over.
The Rocket entered what was sure to be a combative affair without Vincent Arseneau who was nursing a lower-body injury, and Florian Xhekaj had been called up to the NHL just before puck drop. Pascal Vincent shuffled his lines to try to get the most stable group he could, which started with Sean Farrell moving back up to the top line. In Farrell’s place was the recalled Riley Kidney, while the bottom six remained the same as last game. Tobie Bisson and Adam Engström made up the first pair, while Josiah Didier slotted in alongside Marc Del Gaizo on the third. In net it was Kaapo Kähkönen getting the start, with Jacob Fowler set to get the net on Saturday.
The physicality was immediately present as both sides were finishing every check and grabbing an opponent in scrums after every whistle. For the Rocket however, their defensive structure continued to struggle against the Senators’ star forward Arthur Kaliyev. Kähkönen stymied him and smothered a rebound chance, but off the next draw Kaliyev muscled his way through the front of the net and lifted in Jan Jenik’s rebound to give the Senators an early lead.
Despite missing many of their top options, the Rocket refused to budge on their efforts with several shifts spent deep inside the Belleville zone. While the top line was buzzing, it was again the newly constructed fourth line that got Laval on the board. Reinbacher worked the puck back to Luke Tuch who was covering the point, and with a wide open lane Tuch put a shot toward net. Cutting across the front was Will Dineen and he got his stick on the ice to lift the puck by Mads Søgaard to tie the game up.
A Xavier Simoneau offensive-zone penalty put a dangerous Senators man advantage in a position to take the lead back, but a strong showing from the penalty-killers gave Belleville little to work with for two minutes. With Simoneau out of the box it was the Rocket who ended the period with a strong push, but the two rivals entered the first break tied at one goal apiece.
Laval kept its foot down, testing Søgaard repeatedly inside the offensive zone. Bisson and Reinbacher both had outstanding looks, with Bisson nearly getting a shot through a net-front screen while Reinbacher’s one-timer forced a quick pad save from the Belleville goalie. Even when the Senators created their own chances, the Rocket defence and Kähkönen were there to deny them without much issue.
That pressure continued and eventually it broke down the Senators’ defence enough to finally yield a second Rocket goal. Laurent Dauphin and Farrell moved through the Senators defence like a hot knife through butter, opening up a lane for Reinbacher. Farrell looked off Bisson to feed a pass to Reinbacher, and the young defenceman ripped a shot off the post and in to give Laval a well-earned lead.
The lead lasted all of nine seconds as Scott Harrington scored his first of the year right off the faceoff, spoiling Laval’s momentum. Instead of slowing down, the Rocket attack went right back to work and in the process drew their first power play of the game with a chance to take their lead back.
While the Rocket power play didn’t get on the board, they still managed to take the lead back in short order, again thanks to their fourth line. Didier slid a puck to Tuch, again operating near the blue line, and Tuch ripped a hard shot as he moved in to the dot, which forced Mads Søgaard into a save that also kicked the net off its moorings. Tuch, instantly protested by saying the puck was in before Søgaard had kicked it off and it should be a good goal.
A lengthy review followed, where it was ruled that Tuch was indeed right and his second goal of the year made it a 3-2 contest.
Tuch’s goal took away any momentum the Senators might have been hoping to get off their penalty kill, and shifted it right back to the Rocket. It was all Laval as the period came to a close. With a 15-4 shot advantage the home side was about as dominant as a team could be with a one-goal lead. With one period of regulation left, Laval had to keep their foot down and stay disciplined in a crucial division game.
While the Rocket’s fourth line was turning the tide, their first line continued to put together dangerous shifts as the third period got under way. Dauphin and Alex Belzile were all over every puck on their first shift, with a rolling glove save by Søgaard being the only reason Laval was unable to increase the advantage. After that it was the defence cleaning up every attempt to counter by the Senators, with just one shot making it on net in the first eight minutes of the period.
What followed was the Rocket putting on a perfect demonstration of how to close out a game without withdrawing into a shell. Every puck that they could see was fought for, grinding out the clock and never allowing the Senators a chance to set up a true sustained push for a tying goal.
With just over two minutes left Belleville finally managed to pull Søgaard for an extra attacker, which resulted in a Kähkönen trying (poorly) for an empty-net goal. What followed is pure, unfortunate, unlucky hockey as a shot caught Reinbacher in the hand, knocking him out of the play. With Reinbacher down, the Senators had more than enough space to operate in, which gave Xavier Bourgault a game-tying goal with 39 seconds left,sending the game to overtime.
After being denied all game, it was the Rocket top line that helped put the game away for good. Laurent Dauphin slingshotted himself into the offensive zone, dipping through two Senators and forcing a sprawling save from Søgaard. The Senators goalie did not hold on to the puck, which allowed Belzile to spin a pass out to Engström. The Rocket’s star defenceman made no mistake as he buried the shot to seal a big win for Laval.
Final Score: Laval 4, Belleville 3
Laval’s win keeps them locked into first place in a highly competitive AHL North Division with the Rochester Americans having lost to the Bridgeport Islanders as well.
The annual Teddy Bear Toss game and rematch with the Belleville Senators is set for Saturday at 3 PM ET. Jacob Fowler has been confirmed as the starter, while Engström promised to beat last year’s downpour of 12,000 stuffed animals.