Rocket salvage one out of three games

The Laval Rocket ended their week with an explosive third period to claim a 6-2 win over the Bridgeport Islanders on Sunday. That gave Laval one win in three games this week. Laval opened play with a 3-1 loss to Rochester at Place Bell Wednesday night. That was followed by a road loss to the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night.

On Wednesday the Americans rallied for a trio of tallies in the second period to claim the 3-1 win over the Rocket. Jared Davidson had the lone goal of the opening period with Alex Kidney earning the assist, that was also the lone Laval tally of the night. In the second stanza Riley Fiddler-Schultz notched the equalizer, Ethan Prow’s advantage goal was the game winner and Isak Rosén added an insurance marker at 13:07. From that point on Rocket netminder Connor Hughes and Devon Levi of Rochester played shutout hockey to the final buzzer.

The Hartford Wolf Pack had the Rocket howling as the home team built to a 3-0 lead into the third period and held on for a 4-2 win over the visitors Saturday night in Hartford. Laval mounted a comeback bid with goals by Zach Hayes and Sean Farrell. That made it a 3-2 contest with 6:14 left on the clock. Ben Harpur sealed the deal with six seconds remaining in regulation time as he hit for an empty net tally.

The Rocket exploded for five goals, two on the powerplay, in the third period to overtake the Islanders, who had a 2-1 lead going into the final 20-minutes of play. Florian Xhekaj figured in on five of the six Laval goals, including a hattrick performance in the third. Laurent Dauphin had the opening goal in the first for the Rocket and William Trudeau and Josh Davidson were good for the other two tallies in the third frame. Laval goaltender Luke Cavallin recorded his first win between the pipes as a member of the Rocket.

Laval returns to Place Bell through the holidays to close out the 2024 portion of the schedule. Friday night Belleville is in town for a 7 pm meeting and Sunday afternoon the Springfield Thunderbirds supply the competition with a 3 pm matinee match. Friday December 27 and Saturday December 28 the Syracuse Crunch will be at Place Bell for 7 pm and 3 pm games. n