It is often said that in great moments, great players rise. Not only did the big guns of the Laval Rocket do the job in the home stretch of the season, but the second fiddles too.
If there is a player who understood the nature of the game and who was decisive, it is Pierrick Dubé. His double allowed the Laval club to take the measure of the Syracuse Crunch 4-3, Friday night at the end of the season, and thus qualify the Rocket for the playoffs.
“I like the pressure. In fact, I feed on it. Want, don’t want, it was a special game, and I’m happy with my performance,” said Dubé, who will be making his first playoff appearance with the Rocket. Rocket head coach Jean-Francois Houle agreed, saying Dubé is not only a “clutch” player, but is “super important” to the club’s success.
Like his team, which has won its eighth win in its last nine outings, Dubé was all fired up during the final sprint of the Canadian school club. The Lyon native has scored 14 goals and 11 assists in his last 26 games and lived up to his reputation as a big-time player.
The small right winger was decisive throughout the conquest of the President Cup in 2022 for the Shawinigan Cataractes. He notably scored the game-winning goal in overtime and then landed a pro trial contract with the Rocket in October. Here he is ready to fill a key role during the playoffs.
The Rocket will also be able to thank the Utica Comets, since they defeated the Cleveland Monsters, the Laval club’s closest pursuer. If the Monsters won the last three meetings, they qualified for the playoffs. So the Comets gave the Rocket the boost they needed.
For the occasion, the Rocket broke its mark of the largest crowd, with 10,295 fans. To keep up with demand, the club had to add folding chairs.
And this crowd, excited, tense and always ready to cheer or boo the decisions of the officials, was there. From the start of the game, fans yelled the name of their favorite team at the appropriate moment in The Star Spangled Banner. It set the tone.
During each update of the score between the Monsters and the Comets, fans warmly cheered the news. In fact, they didn’t even need the confirmation on the big screen to holler again, and the rounds of applause quickly drowned out the sound of the action.
“It helped to see the result and especially the reaction of the fans,” said the Laval driver. We were like, “It’s up to us to do our job.” »
If playoff fever swept through Laval last spring, the Rocket will have another chance to provide some relief for Habs fans. Jean-François Houle’s troops finished fifth in the North Section and will face one of three teams: the Comets, the Rochester Americans or the Crunch, in a three-game best-of-one series. will begin on Wednesday.
“The series are crazy here. I know Whiteout will be back and I can’t wait! said Anthony Richard, who scored his 30th goal of the campaign against his former team, the Crunch.
The Laval residents’ first game will be at Place Bell. Then the second game and the third, if necessary, will be on the road. Playing the first game at home is a “huge advantage”, according to Houle.
The Rocket have only lost one of their last nine games, and that was when they gave up on the Monsters. One of those famous “four point games”, as they are sometimes called.
So the same scenario presented itself on Friday evening. Similar to the duel against the Monsters, the Rocket took a 4-2 lead before starting to take the waves of rival attacks.
“We were just as nervous as the game against Cleveland,” Houle admitted.
One player who has been spared this added pressure is Cayden Primeau, according to the Rocket coach.
“He’s been really good,” Houle noted of Primeau, who had three games with over 40 saves this week. “He must be knackered. I believe he will sleep for the next two days. He traveled a lot and was under a lot of pressure this week, but I’m proud of him. He delivered the goods. »
And there will be a whole order for Primeau in the next few days. Whoever had a lackluster season will want to regain the success he enjoyed during the 2022 playoffs.
“The game was played there,” Jean-François Houle said of a four-on-four situation. Pierrick Dubé first received a penalty along the ramp, but after the whistle, like a fine fox, he headed for the player he mowed down. After a bit of comradeship, the “fault” also became faulty. Finally, during the four against four, the Rocket scored two goals to retreat to the locker room with a 4-2 priority.