Less than 24 hours after thumping the Hershey Bears on the scoreboard and also in multiple scrums and fights, the Laval Rocket returned to Place Bell for a Valentine’s Day meeting with the Toronto Marlies. Love and compassion were things not exactly shared between the two sides after a line brawl earlier in the year, and a testy rematch at the end of January. A win over the Marlies on Saturday could propel the Rocket 10 points clear of second place in the division, a massive gap for their divisional rivals to make up over the final third of the season.

Pascal Vincent didn’t make many changes, just two after Friday’s big win at home. First was inserting Vincent Arseneau into the lineup as the Marlies dressed both Michael Pezzetta and Brandon Baddock in what was sure to be a physical game. In net it was a simple swap as Kaapo Kähkönen started in place of Jacob Fowler who got the win the night prior.

It was far from the start that the Rocket were looking for as they surrendered the game’s opening goal just 75 seconds into the contest. Filip Mešár could not corral a pass in his skates which allowed the Marlies to transition an odd-man rush the other direction. Matthew Barbolini found Luke Haymes, who worked through the top of the zone and fired a shot through traffic to give Toronto the first goal of the afternoon.

The Rocket struggled to find clean passes or opportunities as the game ticked on, failing to register a shot on goal in the opening five minutes while a Joshua Roy penalty put them short-handed. Laval’s penalty-killers continued a strong showing from the previous night as they generated short-handed looks and what should have been a drawn penalty as Owen Beck was hauled down. Even with a missed call, the Rocket penalty kill allowed zero shots on net as Roy stepped back onto the ice.

With Roy’s penalty killed, the Rocket turned up the pressure as their first line generated three straight chances on net, with Tobie Bisson just missing a tap in at the back post off a pass by Sean Farrell. Then the fourth line continued the grinding, cycle game with Arseneau throwing his wait around, while Tyler Thorpe just narrowly missed a tying goal on a long-range wrister.

Following that flurry of chances, not much of note happened as the first period ticked on with both sides pushing many of their chances wide of goal, or into sticks on their way to the net. The Rocket did get a chance to draw level as Owen Beck drew an interference call, handing Laval a late first-period power play. The man advantage was anything but for Laval as their offence continues its struggles to put shots on net, and they entered the first intermission trailing by a goal.

Scoring chances remained few and far between for both sides as the second period ticked away, with just three shots registered between the sides with nearly half the period played. The intense pressure and physicality from Arseneau drew a tripping call however, again giving Laval a chance to tie the game. The advantage managed to accomplish very little until the dying seconds when Florian Xhekaj ripped two shots on net that just barely missed wide, but as it stood the Rocket were still seeking a way back into the game.

Laval’s best chance in nearly a period came when Roy took a pass from Nate Clurman while spinning and putting a backhand chance on net. The rebound spilled out, but a diving Roy wasn’t able to prod it home, and the frustration continued to mount for Laval. The Rocket did step on their own toes a bit as Clurman was busted for a hook and stuck the Laval penalty-killers in a tough spot.

The penalty-killers again rose to the occasion and after Clurman exited the box the home side finally got the break they had been searching for. A dumped-in puck had Roy in fast pursuit, stealing it behind Toronto’s net and firing a pass into the slot. Laurent Dauphin was more than ready on the spot, burying his chance and finally getting the Rocket on the board.

Dauphin’s goal was a well-earned reward after a strong period by the Rocket, but they still had 20 more minutes of regulation left as they sought a seventh straight win.

Laval’s star players clearly felt the momentum shifting in their favour as the third period began, and they started to take advantage of all the little mistakes that the Marlies were making. Mešár broke up a play in the neutral zone, springing Roy on an odd-man rush. Roy baited his defender before sending a pass across to Beck, with the centreman finishing off a great play for a 2-1 lead.

Beck’s goal brought the Rocket offence back into roaring form as they began to set up deeper in the Marlies’ zone and continued to exploit gaps over and over again. William Trudeau worked his way around the defence, and found Beck standing at the back post with a perfect feed. Beck, unfortunately, steered it just over the net and stared at his stick in a state of disbelief.

Then the temperature finally began to rise as the sides barrelled toward the end of regulation. After a heavy hit on Arseneau, Blake Smith and Thorpe exchanged plenty of words, and then fists at centre ice with Thorpe eating far more punches than he landed himself. Unlike previous meetings, the teams did settle down on the shifts afterward as the final minutes approached.

Much like the previous night, Sammy Blais showed up when the Rocket were in need of a potential insurance goal to settle the game down. He grabbed a puck that was fired in by Adam Engström, driving behind the net and opening up to find a teammate at the back post. That teammate was Lucas Condotta, and the Rocket captain added a crucial goal with just over six minutes to play.

Condotta’s goal ended up mattering a lot as in the following shifts the Marlies found their second goal of the game as the Rocket defence was caught scrambling. The Rocket failing to clear their lines allowed the Marlies to ping the puck around quickly and opened up Ryan Tverberg to cut the lead down to one goal with 4:44 to play.

Before long the Toronto net was empty as they sought a late goal to force overtime in Laval. Instead, it was again Roy grabbing a puck from Kähkönen and throwing it down the ice into the empty net to seal a 4-2 victory for the Rocket.

Final Score: Laval 4, Toronto 2

With a seventh straight win in their pocket, the Rocket head out on a four-game road trip, starting Monday in Toronto. Puck drop set for 2 PM ET.