2024-02-29 03:15:00
After a frustrating outing at home against the Toronto Marlies last weekend, the Laval Rocket set the tone for their three-game road trip with a 4-0 victory over the Bridgeport Islanders on Wednesday.
This result allows the Montreal Canadiens farm club to post 53 points in the standings, which occupies sixth place in the North division, two points behind the Rochester Americans and one place in the playoffs. Above all, it boosts the morale of the team which had suffered two consecutive losses at Place Bell against the Marlies.
Ruslan Iskhakov had the first good scoring chance of the game, midway through the first period, but his shot ended up off the post.
Defenseman William Trudeau committed a turnover that allowed the Islanders to go two-on-one a few minutes later, but they were unable to get a good shot.
Tyce Thompson thought he had scored the first goal of the game, during a power play, by recovering a puck near the goaltender and pushing it into an abandoned cage with 13:56 left in the middle period. The referee, however, called a halt to play before Thompson shot towards the net.
The Rocket opened the valves in Bridgeport during the middle period thanks to four goals and they can obviously thank their goalkeeper Jakub Dobes for this victory. The goaltender stopped 35 pucks for the first shutout of his American League career.
“I try to be at my best every game,” Dobes said. Everyone did a good job. It was a team victory. »
“We try not to think about it,” said Paquette-Bisson about maintaining the shutout for his goalie at the end of the match. I would say that we didn’t give him that easy (his shutout) in the third period. He made some very good saves. »
Well positioned in front of Ken Appleby’s net, Philippe Maillet vibrated the strings in the upper part in the ninth minute of the second period. Just 34 seconds later, Jared Davidson jumped on a return shot from Tobie Bisson to give the Rocket a cushion.
Jan Mysak made a nice climb into offensive territory moments later. He spotted Filip Cederqvist and it was the latter who made the red light sparkle. Emil Heinement put the finishing touches on Appleby’s night with his 10th goal of the campaign for the Rocket.
This second goal allowed in 20 seconds, and the fourth on 25 shots, sent Appleby to the bench and Henrik Tikkanen entered the game. He made six saves.
“We had contribution from all four lines,” said Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle. It wasn’t always perfect, but Dobes made some big saves to keep us in the game. I think we gave a few too many chances, but in attack we were opportunistic. »
“I’m happy that we found the back of the net five on five,” added Houle. We found some chemistry with different players and made some good zone entries that allowed us to score big goals, something we hadn’t seen in the last two games. »
Mattias Norlinder returned to the game for the Rocket, completing the third defensive pair with Quebecer Olivier Galipeau. Norlinder hit the post in the second period, during a great offensive surge by the Rocket.
Jean-François Houle’s men will continue their trip with stops in Hartford on Saturday to face the Wolf Pack and in Springfield on Saturday for a confrontation with the Thunderbirds.
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