(Hershey) Against the best team in the American League, the Laval Rocket was no match.
Led by Garrett Roe, who scored a hat trick, the Hershey Bears scored three unanswered goals in the first period and never slowed down en route to a 7-1 victory on Saturday.
Alex Limoges – twice –, Ivan Miroshnichenko and Riley Sutter also scored for the Bears, who sit atop the league standings with a 21-6-0 record, a few months after winning the Calder Cup.
Logan Day and Quebecer Hendrix Lapierre had three assists, while veteran Mike Sgarbossa had two.
Rocket head coach Jean-François Houle was very complimentary of the Bears, acknowledging that there was a world of difference between the two clubs.
“It’s a team that’s playing very well right now. A team with a lot of experience that knows how to win, analyzed Houle. They’re probably the best team we’ve played against this year.
“They are very balanced. They have forward players who make great plays, and their defenders never get rid of the puck, they always make the right play. It was really hard to get the puck back. »
William Trudeau was the only scorer for the Rocket, who suffered a first setback in regulation time in their last four games. After the meeting, the Quebec guard suggested that we had to quickly move on.
Houle disagreed, hoping his charges understood what it took to win.
“I think this allows us to see that we have a long way to go,” he said. There is a big gap between the two teams currently, and that shows our young players that we have a long way to go. We have a lot to learn. Winning in this league is not easy.
“They won the championship last year and it’s really hard to play against them. »
A perfect start for the Bears
Before this meeting, the Bears had suffered two of their six defeats in their last four games. The plan was certainly to start today’s game strong, and they did so by taking the first nine shots of the game.
Roe also opened the scoring with the second shot, at 2:30 of the first period. It was his first goal of the season.
“As soon as they took the lead, they kept us outside, we couldn’t enter the dangerous areas,” Houle lamented.
Nathan Légaré finally directed a first puck towards goalie Hunter Shepard at 5:26, but 46 seconds later, Roe doubled the lead of the local favorites.
Miroshnichenko added on a power play 44 seconds into the first period, then Sutter made it 4-0 in the first half of the second.
Trudeau reduced the gap before the second intermission. Brandon Gignac had an assist on the streak, collecting at least a point in a sixth straight game. He totaled two goals and eight points during it.
Roe completed his hat-trick in superiority 30 seconds from the final whistle.
After three good outings in a row, goalkeeper Jakub Dobes gave way to Strauss Mann in front of the Rocket cage.
Dobes has blocked 103 of 110 shots faced in his last three starts. The Rocket obtained at least one point in each match (2-0-1), while the Montreal Canadiens’ farm club was coming off a nine-game losing streak.
In relief, Mann turned away 28 of the 35 pucks aimed at him. He has lost six games in a row, his last victory dating back to November 15 against the Belleville Senators.
Shepard made 14 saves.
The Rocket will end a three-game road trip by visiting the Syracuse Crunch on Wednesday.