(Cleveland) Rafaël Harvey-Pinard was able to celebrate his 50and point of the season — and his 51and — in an unequivocal victory by the Laval Rocket 6-0 at the expense of the Cleveland Monsters, Thursday, in an American Hockey League duel.
Posted yesterday at 9:42 p.m.
Harvey-Pinard prepared the first net of the match, that of his sidekick, Jean-Sébastien Dea to give the visitors the lead in the first period and reach the prestigious plateau.
The Laval team started the middle period well with three goals in the first six minutes. Alex Belzile, Nate Schnarr then Brandon Gignac made the red light sparkle.
At the start of the third period, Dea scored his 25and net of the season again helped by Harvey-Pinard. Jean-Christophe Beaudoin completed the job a few moments later.
Like Harvey-Pinard, Danick Martel distinguished himself with two assists.
On his return to the game, Gabriel Bourque collected an assist. He missed the last three games due to injury.
Kevin Poulin stopped 27 shots for his second shutout of the season.
His counterpart Linden Marshall was less successful, allowing six goals on 29 shots.
The two clubs will meet again on Saturday in Cleveland. There are seven games left for Jean-François Houle’s squad before the playoffs. This will be the fourth duel in a series of five on the road.
The Rocket, in second place in the North section, is in good shape to begin its journey in the semi-finals of the said section. The first three teams in the section obtain a ticket for the semi-finals, while those who finish in 4and and 5and echelon will face off in a series of up to three games.