(Laval) Two days, two matches, two completely different performances against the same rival. This is what the Laval Rocket experienced last weekend in Toronto, against the Marlies. And it’s a phenomenon that shouldn’t necessarily surprise in the American League, when you listen to Jean-François Houle.
Faced with a rival from the North section at a time when the fight is very close with a view to qualifying for the playoffs, the Rocket first collapsed by allowing five unanswered goals in the third period in a loss of 6 -1 at the Coca-Cola Coliseum on Friday.
Less than 24 hours later, a Laval team unrecognizable from the day before showed up in the same building and corrected the Marlies 7-1 to thus divide the honors of these two confrontations and deserve two precious points in the standings.
“It’s the American League,” the Rocket head coach replied philosophically on Tuesday when asked to explain such a contrast.
You have ups, you have downs. We have several recalls currently, we have to establish new chemistry, find other combinations, the numerical advantage is changing. [Joshua] Roy is called back five minutes before the start of the match [de samedi]. There are a lot of things, a lot of imponderables in the American League, and sometimes it gets mental. I’m glad, at least, that we came back strong.
Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle
According to Houle, the Rocket played a little sluggishly in the first game and did not display great attention to detail.
“Yes, it was 1-1 after two periods, but we weren’t playing very well. The Marlies took over in the third and there were way too many turnovers. The next day, we responded well. We came out very strong and it was completely the opposite. We put on our work boots, we went to the net, we scored several goals. The guys competed,” Houle said after his players took part in a three-part, development-focused training session Tuesday at Place Bell.
When Houle mentions that the players competed during Saturday’s match, he is not mistaken. Of the 18 skaters he employed, 11 amassed at least one point, including defenseman Logan Mailloux, author of a goal and two assists with, in addition, five shots on the opponent’s net and a defensive ratio of plus-3 .
Tobie Bisson, another defenseman, got two assists while Nathan Légaré and Xavier Simoneau scored twice each.
“It was important to bounce back after such a thaw,” said Simoneau. From the start, we were “in their face”. We quickly took a 3-0 lead. And even at 3-0, we didn’t want to give up.
“All points are important, especially against the clubs in your section, and to escape one like that, it was important to come back. And it feels good, too, to score a lot of goals and allow few. It was good for our defense, it was good for our offense, it was good for everyone. »
For his part, Bisson believes that the Rocket was simply not ready during the first match against the Marlies, even if the score was 1-1 after 40 minutes of play. He also praised the performance of goalkeeper Jakub Dobes.
“I’m not surprised we lost 6-1. If it hadn’t been for Doby, it would have been worse.
“The second part, I think we showed a lot of character. It was a big game for us, and we knew it. I think it did us good too. It gave us back the confidence we had a couple of weeks ago. »