The Montreal Canadiens AHL affiliate begin the month with wins against division rivals.
by Chris G, Rocket Sports, Montreal Canadiens blogger
The Laval Rocket were on the road to face the Toronto Marlies (Toronto Maple Leafs) on Wednesday, before returning home to begin a five-game home stand by hosting the Belleville Senators (Ottawa Senators) on Saturday.
Wednesday: Laval Rocket 5 - Toronto Marlies 4
The Rocket struck early into the game when Jakov Novak from behind the opposition net found Riley Kidney in the slot and he put the puck across the goal line. The Marlies took advantage of penalties against Adam Engstrom and Alex Beaucage to record goals on consecutive power plays. The visitors tied it before the intermission when Laurent Dauphin, while falling to the ice, set up Alex Barre-Boulet for a one-timer.
Laval grabbed the lead again in the second period while shorthanded during a two-on-one as Florian Xhekaj beat the goalie with a blocker side shot. Sean Farrell added to the lead as he escaped the defensive coverage and tapped in Xhekaj’s pass to light the red light. Later in the period, Roy made it a three-goal lead when he drove to the crease area for a goal. In the final 1:27, Toronto scored a power play goal and a goal with their goalie pulled to cut the deficit to one.
Saturday: Belleville Senators 1 - Laval Rocket 4
After a scoreless first period, the Rocket capitalized on a two-man advantage. The sequence began with Laurent Dauphin's check on the boards, leading to the puck in the slot, where Alex Barre-Boulet shot it into the back of the net. On the next shift, David Reinbacher from the faceoff dot in the offensive zone found Lucas Condotta in the crease area, and the captain tapped the puck past the goal line.
Later in the period, Dauphin scored the team’s third power play goal of the period by redirecting Barre-Boulet’s pass into the net. Less than a minute later, Jared Davidson increased the lead by putting his own rebound into the net. The Senators broke Connor Hughes’ shutout bid with four seconds remaining in regulation.
"We're more aggressive, and we attack the net. We didn't change the units, so there's some chemistry between them. The execution is better,” Pascal Vincent said about the power play succeeding three times.
Roster News
The club announced that Filip Mesar will miss up to six weeks with an upper body injury that has sidelined him since February 17th. This is the second significant injury of the season, after missing two months of action with a lower body injury earlier in the year.
Up Next
After spending the majority of February on the road, the Rocket will play 10 of their 12 games in March at home. Their current homestand continues on Wednesday when the Utica Comets (New Jersey Devils) visit Place Bell, followed by a back-to-back against the Rochester Americans (Buffalo Sabres) on Friday and Saturday.
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