(Laval) Jakub Dobes had another great performance and the Laval Rocket defeated the Bridgeport Islanders 3-1 on Friday night at Place Bell.
Dobes stopped 29 shots and didn’t allow more than one goal in his last three starts. The 22-year-old goalkeeper signed a 19e victory this season, tying the team record held by Cayden Primeau.
The Rocket (27-24-8) defeated the Islanders (20-32-7) by a score of 5-1 on Wednesday night, and recorded a fourth consecutive victory.
The Laval team joined the Toronto Marlies in fifth and last place giving access to the playoffs in the North section. The Maple Leafs farm club, however, has three games in hand.
Tobie Bisson, Riley Kidney and Philippe Maillet shook things up for the Rocket, who learned before the game that forward Xavier Simoneau would miss the rest of the season due to surgery on his left shoulder.
Forward Arnaud Durandeau played his first match in the uniform of the Montreal Canadiens’ farm club. He played on the same line as Maillet and Lias Andersson and he had some good scoring opportunities.
Ruslan Iskhakov scored for the Islanders, who suffered a third straight loss. Jakub Skarek made 23 saves.
The Rocket will return to action on the road on Sunday, when they visit the Marlies.
Dobes gives almost nothing
A bit like they did on Wednesday evening, the Laval residents quickly stormed enemy territory. But this time, they were rewarded with a goal, after just 63 seconds of play.
Justin Barron’s point shot was collected by Lias Andersson, who attempted the spinner. Skarek blocked his attempt, but Bisson jumped on the return to score his second goal in as many games.
The reply came from Iskhakov’s stick, just 54 seconds later. The 23-year-old Russian deflected a shot from Robin Salo’s point and the puck hit the crossbar before crossing the red line.
The Rocket got going again and dominated the next few minutes, giving the opposing defense a hard time. His quick transition game led to Kidney’s goal, who came alone in front of Skarek after accepting a pass from Mitchell Stephens.
Kidney came within inches of scoring a second straight goal midway through the first period. He managed to beat the Islanders goalkeeper, but not the post to his left.
At the other end of the ice, Dobes didn’t need anyone’s help to make a spectacular save against William Dufour, who had been left alone to his right.
The Rocket goalkeeper left his mark on the game during the second period. Dobes notably closed the door to Quebecers Julien Gauthier and Dufour, before stopping two shots from Iskhakov.
The Czech allowed his team to hold on after not taking a shot on net for 15 minutes and 43 seconds.
A penalty to Islanders defender Aidan Fulp, however, opened the door for Jean-François Houle’s men, before the end of the second period. Posted at the top of the left circle, Maillet fired a low shot that hit the post before finding the back of the net.
The Islanders tried to reduce the gap in the final third, but the Rocket defense was very tight and limited quality chances.