(Rochester) Two goals from Lukas Vejdemo weren’t enough for the Laval Rocket who suffered a 5-3 loss to the Americans in Rochester on Friday.
For the Americans (13-6-0-0), this is the fifth straight victory. In the win, center Sean Malone had one goal and one assist as defensemen Mattias Samuelsson and Josh Teves had two assists each.
In net, goaltender Mat Robson made 29 saves.
On the side of the Rocket (10-10-2-0), it was Cayden Primeau who cashed the backhand in front of the net. He repelled 28 of the 32 shots he faced.
Vejdemo opened the scoring midway through the first period, just after a power play ended. He recovered his own return from the field to push the puck into the net.
Brandon Biro responded less than three minutes later with his first of the season on a deflected shot, leaving Primeau no chance. Then, Sean Malone gave the Americans a 2-1 lead before the end of the period.
The Rocket struck early in the second period to tie the two teams together. Vejdemo put on his second of the game at 1:10 on assists from Quebecers Alex Belzile and Raphaël Harvey-Pinard.
However, Michael Mersch gave the locals back the lead in the middle of the second and this time it was the right one. Primeau looked bad on this wrist shot from along the top band of the right circle.
Mitch Eliot widened the lead to two goals early in the third period and the Americans didn’t look back.
Tobie Paquette-Bisson tried to maintain the suspense at the end of the game by scoring with seven minutes to go. The Rocket’s attempt to come back did not go any further, however, as Ryan MacInnis confirmed the Americans’ victory by scoring his team’s fifth goal in an empty net.