(Laval) It was time for consolation in the Laval Rocket locker room on Wednesday evening, after another defeat, the third in three outings.
This one, however, showed that the team had a good dose of guts and, above all, it still allowed them to obtain a first point in the standings.
Jiri Kulich scored his third goal of the game 3:11 into overtime and the Rochester Americans stormed out of Place Bell with a 5-4 victory.
Kulich completed his hat trick about thirty seconds after the Americans held off a four-on-three power play.
This goal from Kulich also spoiled a great comeback for the Rocket and what was, overall, a solid performance from Jean-François Houle’s men.
The Rocket players were the better team for the final 39 minutes of regulation time. However, the preceding 21 minutes had been laborious, to the point where the Americans were able to give themselves a 4-1 lead.
“It’s hard to swallow because I found that we showed a lot of character to come back,” noted Houle during his press briefing.
“But we can’t have departures like that. We need to have a better start to the match. I understand we are a young team, but they had us on our heels from the start. »
Joel Armia (3rd) and Lucas Condotta (1st) reduced this lead, then Mitchell Stephens (1st) made the 6,646 spectators jump for joy by creating the tie with a little over five minutes remaining in regulation time.
In addition to stopping 30 shots, goalkeeper Strauss Mann was awarded the Rocket’s first goal, in the first period, during a delayed penalty against the Laval team.
Viktor Neuchev and Justin Richards, the latter shorthanded, scored the Americans’ other goals.
Goaltender Devin Colley faced 43 shots, including 40 starting in the second period.
The same two teams will face each other again Friday evening, still at Place Bell. The next day, the Rocket will play their first away game, in Belleville, against the Senators.
After two losses in a row, we would have been entitled to expect a strong start from the Rocket.
This was not the case, quite the contrary. To the point that the visitors obtained the first nine shots of the match and the first two goals, in an interval of less than five minutes at the start of the match.
However, the highlight of the period belonged to the Rocket.
After allowing a third goal, with a player in the penalty box and, in addition, a delayed punishment to Condotta for tripping the opposing goalkeeper, the Laval team found a way to get on the board.
Positioned behind the Rocket net, Filip Cederqvist made a shot that hit Mann’s stick before veering toward center ice.
The shot was fired with enough force to slide into the Americans’ net, which Cooley had deserted to make room for a sixth attacker.
Since the puck did not touch any other player, Mann was awarded the goal, the first of his career in the American League.
“It was pretty crazy, that’s for sure. Afterward, I was in shock. I didn’t really know what to think. We were still behind by two goals and I had to regain my level of concentration quickly,” said Mann about this goal, the very first of his career, regardless of the level.
“My first instinct was to look behind me and think [Cederqvist] scored because he shot the puck right at me and swerved it into the net,” he added.
But if we exclude this bizarre sequence, the Rocket had a very bad first period, with only 4 shots compared to 17 for the Americans.
The start of the second period didn’t leave anything too positive for the Rocket and their fans when Richards increased the visitors’ lead shorthanded at 1:47.
The Laval team was entitled to another numerical superiority less than four minutes later, and this time, they quickly took advantage, Armia hitting the target with a powerful slap shot from the slot.
The Rocket also had a much better period, reducing the gap in shots to three (26-23) after 40 minutes of play. But on the scoreboard, the deficit was still two goals.
The Rocket quickly reduced it to a goal when Condotta completed a nice three-way sequence with Lias Andersson and Xavier Simoneau in the third minute of play in the period.
Stephens then hit the target from the mouth of the net and brought both clubs back to square one.
“Quietly not quickly, we gained the upper hand. We started shooting at the net and creating traffic in front of the goalie. The effort was there, but you need a 60-minute effort if you want to win,” Houle recalled.
