(Utica) Sean Farrell and Philippe Maillet scored in a shootout and the Laval Rocket defeated the Utica Comets 4-3 on Friday.
The Rocket emerged victorious from an overtime or shootout for the first time this season, on six occasions.
Jared Davidson, Arber Xhekaj and Maillet were the scorers in regular time for the Rocket, who deserved a third victory in a row.
“We’re starting to play the right way,” Maillet said. We offered team play where the guys understand that when you don’t have the puck, you have to free yourself. »
Winning goalkeeper Jakub Dobes made 28 saves, six more than Akira Schmid.
The Comets dropped a seventh straight game.
The crowd favorites had seven power plays.
“Of course we have to be more disciplined,” said Maillet. The penalties took away a lot of momentum from us. »
The coach of the Laval clan, Jean-François Houle, was happy with the performance of his protégés at equal strength.
“We were solid at five against five, we had more chances than the opponent,” Houle said. We worked hard to overcome the 2-0 deficit. You have to give credit to the players. »
The Rocket will play again at the Adirondack Bank Center on Sunday, starting at 3 p.m.
The Comets scored two power play goals in the first period.
Tyler Wotherspoon scored from the blue line at 13:06 during a penalty on Xhekaj for a collision.
Cal Foote did it again at 17:12, with a wrist shot from the left circle. Xavier Simoneau was in the dungeon for a double failure.
Davidson responded at 18:04 in the first period, then Xhekaj evened the score at 3:08 in the middle period.
Xhekaj hit the target from the slot, earning a point in a fifth straight game.
With just under five minutes remaining in the second period, Lucas Condotta hit the post shorthanded. It was for the Rocket a third shot on the rod in the game.
In the third period, Michael Vukojevic of the Comets scored at 6:37 with a backhand, on his own rebound.
Maillet brought everyone back to square one at 13:56, deflecting a shot from Logan Mailloux.
Utica is led by Kevin Dineen, who shone with the Hartford Whalers, in particular.
Dineen scored 235 goals with the Connecticut club, among 355 goals in the National League.