The Rocket extended their lead just over five minutes into the period when Brandon Gignac skated hard up ice on a breakaway and fed the puck cross-ice to Kevin Roy. Instead, Manitoba went back to applying offensive pressure on Laval, putting 18 shots on goal in the frame. Third Periodĭiscipline came back into play in the third period, with neither team spending any time in the penalty box. It finally paid off just a few minutes before intermission when he fired a shot from the point that made its way through traffic and into the Moose net. Norlinder, playing a prominant role on the first power play unit, had been active and aggressive on the puck all night. Just over five minutes into the frame, Greg Meireles blasted the puck from the point and Jeff Malott was able to finish it with a tap in from the back door to tie the game with a power play goal.īoth teams alternated turns in the penalty box, including some four-on-four hockey after Belzile took a slashing penalty during a Laval power play, but it was the Rocket who were the next to convert on the man advantage. Penalties, a consistent weakness for Laval this season, cropped up in the second period. Manitoba pressured hard early on, and kept Laval in the defensive zone for a good portion of the first half of the period.īut the Rocket started pouring on pressure of their own late in the frame, and Alex Belzile was rewarded when he went top shelf and put the puck past Mikhail Berdin with just 55 seconds left on the clock. Both teams exchanged a minor penalties, and neither was successful on the man advantage. The opening 20 minutes of play was not much to write home about. The Winnipeg affiliate would be without the services of defenseman Ville Heinola, who was recalled to the Jets earlier in the day. For Laval, it was forward Jesse Ylonen who was recalled by the Canadiens on Wednesday morning. Norlinder has played three games this season with Laval when he was sent down for a conditioning stint.īoth teams had to contend with the last-minute loss of a key player. In addition, Mattias Norlinder returned to the lineup after being sent down to the AHL this week from Montreal. This game marked the debut forward Peter Abbandonato, who was recalled to the Rocket from the Trois-Rivieres Lions not long after being named last week’s ECHL Player of the Week.
The Rocket looked to continue the solid play they displayed on Sunday evening when they put up a dominant 5-1 victory in Toronto versus the Marlies. The Laval Rocket returned home on Wednesday night for their second game of the season against the Manitoba Moose.