Less than 24 hours after the Laval Rocket defeated the Manitoba Moose 6-2, the two teams will face off again at the Canada Life Centre. The game came immediately after a post-regulation melee in which Brady keeper cross-checked Nikita Chibrikov in the face after being hit in the leg with both hands after the horn. Following this, Jaden Struble and Jeff Malott got into a fight after Struble clocked Malott on the way to the scrum. The Rockets rookie received a three-game suspension for his actions, and Marotte received a one-game suspension.
Struble’s absence meant Matthias Norlinder returned to the Rocket lineup along with Olivier Galipeau. The rest of the lineup was the same as in the previous game, with Strauss Mann set to start after Jakub Dobeš’ win on Sunday.
The Rockets exploded out of the gate again to start the contest, scoring the first goal just over 80 seconds into the game. Philippe Mayet was able to slip through the Moose defense and get a shot into the crease. Xavier Simoneau chased down a spilled puck, drove hard, grabbed a rebound from Tomas Milic, then tucked home his own rebound to take the lead.
The Moose didn’t concede a second goal right away like they had the night before, and Norlinder actually earned the first penalty of the game with a hook into the box. Mann and Lockett’s penalty killers were sharp again, with the Moose swarming all over the zone for the tying goal, but Laval kept the lead intact as the first period passed the halfway point.
A tantrum flared late in the period as Mann tried to cover the puck, but Moose forward Jeffrey Viel attacked the Rockets goaltender late in the period. This drew a crowd, including the keeper who tried to approach Wiel after the whistle and had to be forcibly stopped by officials. As the temperature continued to rise, both teams had two players in the box by the time things were sorted out.
Almost immediately after that scrum, Ashton Sautner tackled Jared Davidson at the moose crease, giving Laval a power play and being called for roughing. Although he couldn’t capitalize on the power play, he gave his momentum back to the Rockets, who made the most of it by the end of the period. Jan Misak put the puck deep in the Moose net and Sean Farrell grabbed it. Farrell headed the ball into the net and Galipeau waited patiently before Milic slotted home to cut the lead to two points.
By the end of the period, the lead was close to three points. Brandon Gignac set up an odd-man rush and fed a pass to Joshua Roy on the break. Roy cut hard toward the net and went to raise his backhand, but it was denied by Milic’s quick pads.
Manitoba came out scrambling after the first period to try to slow down the Rockets, who were gaining momentum, but things got tough when Wyatt Bongiovanni hit them hard less than three minutes into the game. The Rockets’ power play struggled to find its footing and was unable to generate much consistent pressure as the Moose committed minor penalties.
The Rockets continued to halt their forward momentum despite receiving penalties in quick succession, including the knockdown of Norlinder, but Gignac’s hook calls did not stop. Gignac took an inside position in the offensive zone toward the back of a Moose defender, but the defender spun and managed to draw a call. On the ensuing power play, Bongiovanni buried a rebound opportunity to make it a one-point game.
Once Manitoba got that goal, they began to put heavy pressure on the Rockets, forcing Mann to make save after save and forcing the defense over and over again. Thankfully for Laval, a smart play from Roy got the puck out of his own zone and drew a call in the offensive zone on the same shift, putting Laval on a crucial power play.
Again, the power play was unsuccessful, but the Rockets never left the Moose zone, which led to a Rockets goal in the second half. In a desperate move, the keeper poked at the blue line to keep the puck alive, and Farrell picked it up in the left corner. Farrell scanned the zone again and sent a perfect pass to Roy at the back post for a tap-in goal.
The goal seemed to slow the Moose down a bit, and momentum returned to Laval as both teams headed into intermission with Laval holding a two-goal lead.
Laval continued to take the wind out of Manitoba’s sails early in the third period, with Simoneau scoring his second goal of the game. Logan Mailloux started an odd-man break with a pass from the neutral zone to Mitchell Stevens, who fed Simoneau in the offensive zone to make it 4-1 just under two minutes into the game.
However, the lead was quickly cut back to two goals as the Moose countered with another offensive zone shift. Dominic Toninato earned a tie with Ashton Sautner on points, and Sautner waited half a second before firing a shot that hit the goal post to cut the lead to two points.
The Rockets continued to make things difficult as the third period progressed, with Riley McKay receiving a cross-checking penalty with just over 12 minutes left. The penalty killer shut down Manitoba’s man advantage, allowing Laval to maintain a two-goal lead and quell some of the momentum building against the Rockets.
Laval’s young stars continued to be a thorn in the side of the Moose, as they relentlessly exploited openings as time went on. A turnover in the neutral zone went to Gignac, who picked up a streaking Roy on the left side. Roy collected the feed and sent a return pass to Farrell at the back post, with Farrell burying the ball and the Rockets almost ending the game.
Laval kept their foot on the gas, drawing two more penalties to help run out the clock and thankfully finish the game without any bench-clearing incidents to secure their second consecutive win.
Final score: Laval 5, Manitoba 2
It was a long-awaited weekend for the Rockets, who won back-to-back games for the first time this season and snapped out of the October funk that plagued a young team. Laval returns home Wednesday night for a showdown with the Belleville Senators at Place Belle.
