(Hartford) Jared Davidson scored a hat trick and the Laval Rocket defeated the Hartford Wolf Pack 5-2 on Friday night at the XL Center.
Davidson’s first three-goal night in the American Hockey League allowed him to end a six-game point streak. He completed his hat trick in an empty net.
If Davidson handled some of the offense, Jakub Dobes did the work at the back. The Czech goalie blocked 34 pucks to help the Rocket (21-19-6) sign a second consecutive victory.
Mitchell Stephens collected a goal and an assist for the Montreal Canadiens’ farm club while Tobie Bisson added a goal. Riley Kidney finished the game with two assists.
The Rocket currently finds itself in a fierce fight in the North section. Five teams are separated by only a few points in the standings.
Anton Blidh and Brett Berard responded for the Wolf Pack (24-15-5), who suffered a second defeat in a row. Louis Domingue would surely have liked to see some of the visitors’ shots again and he allowed four goals on 19 shots.
The Rocket, who will return to action on Saturday against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, were without the services of forward Lias Andersson, who was ill. Defenseman Mattias Norlinder suffered an upper body injury during the game and did not return to the game.
Slowly but surely
The clash did not start in the best way for the Rocket, as he conceded a goal in the first minute of play.
The puck ended up on the tip of Matthew Robertson’s stick, who sent it to the net. Dobes could not maintain it and Blidh jumped on the return to open the score.
The people of Laval got back on track and knocked on the door. Alex-Olivier Voyer and Stephens tried in quick succession to tie the game, but Domingue had a narrow escape when the disc passed near his semi-circle from behind the net.
Stephens recovered on the power play late in the first period. Placed at the mouth of the net, the American League veteran surprised the opposing goalkeeper between the pads.
The Wolf Pack had a golden opportunity to regain the lead when a nasty turnover by Justin Barron gave them a power play in the second period.
Installed on the right side, Brennan Othmann fired a cannonball on reception, but Dobes moved to his left to deprive him of a goal.
The Rocket somehow rewarded his goalkeeper by hitting the target twice in 3:40 before retreating to the locker room. Davidson was forgotten at the enemy blue line and he deceived Domingue’s vigilance on the near side. Then, Kidney spotted Bisson alone on the left side and the defender hit the target for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Dobes was busy in the third period, but his teammates contained the enemy attacks well. Davidson even managed to increase the lead thanks to a violent wrist shot during a numerical superiority.
The Wolf Pack did not give up and reduced the gap through Berard, but they could not get any closer.