(Springfield) Since its move in anticipation of the 2017-2018 season, the Laval Rocket had never yet managed to win its first two games abroad to start a season. It’s a feat that eluded him again on Saturday evening.
Following an impressive 5-2 victory in Providence on Friday night, the Rocket completed a short two-game road trip with a record of .500, following a 3-game loss. 1 against the Springfield Thunderbirds, Saturday night at the MassMutual Center.
Jared Davidson scored the Rocket’s only goal – his first of the season – early in the second period.
“I am not disappointed with the match. I think we did a lot of good things. We just didn’t have the same speed as we had yesterday (Friday),” analyzed head coach Pascal Vincent.
“From the first appearance of the match, we could see that the speed we had yesterday was not there today. The execution wasn’t as good. There are many situations that we will review with our team; how to manage a game, how to manage the score and certain parts of the system, especially defensively, and our puck management. »
In his first game in the American League, goaltender Connor Hughes delivered a solid performance in front of the Rocket net, despite the defeat on his record.
“He was really good. He was excellent today and made important saves,” praised forward Filip Mesar, who collected his fourth point of the season on Saturday.
“We need to help him a little more.” It wasn’t easy for him today, but he did a great job. »
Hughes stopped 23 pucks and had no chance to stop the shots that thwarted him, those of Dalibor Dvorsky and Hugh McGing.
Furthermore, he made several quality saves, helped by his imposing physique and excellent lateral movement.
Nikita Alexandrov completed into an empty net during the last minute of play.
Hughes was slightly outplayed by Vadim Zherenko, who blocked 29 shots. Above all, he helped close the door on the Rocket during his four power plays, including two within the first four minutes of the clash, including 75 seconds at four against three.
“We need to work on our numerical advantage. He wasn’t very good today. He wasn’t very good yesterday either,” admitted Mesar candidly.
“Every time you have a five-on-three or a four-on-three and you don’t score, it can hurt you,” Vincent emphasized.
“We had a four against three, we didn’t score. We had chances, but we didn’t finish. These moments can hurt you at the end of a match. They scored at the start of the third, we could have had the lead at that point. We didn’t have it. These moments are important,” Vincent repeated.
The Rocket will play their next two games at home, Friday and Saturday against the Syracuse Crunch.
It is already assured that Friday’s meeting, which will mark the Rocket’s local opening in 2024-25, will be sold out. And for the moment, the Laval team is guaranteed to play in front of an excellent crowd on Saturday.
A matter of guards
Saturday’s match featured a goalie, in Hughes, without any experience at the professional level in North America, and another, in Zherenko, with a modest track record in the American League.
However, they were the stars of the first twenty, which ended with a score of 0-0. Especially Zherenko, who faced 15 shots in the first 20 minutes of play compared to seven for Hughes.
Zherenko notably stood out against Joshua Roy, who directed three shots at the opposing goalie after getting six Friday night in Providence.
Zherenko was particularly brilliant with just over five minutes to play when he stopped three shots in quick succession, those of Roy, Riley Kidney and Florian Xhekaj.
As for Hughes, he was alert and made good saves on the first two shots he faced, those from Mackenzie MacEachern and Michael Buchinger, both times while the Thunderbirds were defending down a player early in the first twenty.
Zherenko was the first to give in when Davidson beat him in the upper left on a breakaway at 1:51 of the middle period, following a pass from Owen Beck.
Subsequently, however, the Rocket did not display the same vigor as in the previous four periods.
Eventually, the Thunderbirds tied the game when Dvorsky scored his first career goal at 11:23 of the second period, thanks to a backhand shot that slipped under Hughes, despite the Rocket goaltender’s dive.
McGing broke the tie 1:25 into the third period with a shot from the slot into an almost empty net, with Hughes out of position after a good save against Zach Dean.
The latter, however, managed to recover the disk and pass it on to McGing, who was left unsupervised.
After taking a penalty from Xavier Simoneau late in the third, the Rocket worked hard to tie the score, but Alexandrov sealed the outcome of the match by pushing the puck into an empty net with 23 seconds on the clock.