(Laval) Playing their third game in five days, the Laval Rocket players appeared to be running out of legs on Friday as they suffered a second straight loss at home, losing 4-2 to the Abbotsford Canucks .
Posted yesterday at 10:01 p.m.
If the frenetic pace of the American Hockey League (AHL) schedule begins to weigh heavily on the Rocket, head coach Jean-Francois Houde’s players will need to find new life quickly as they face the Canucks again. Saturday afternoon at Place Bell.
Sheldon Rempal, John Stevens, Devante Stephens and Sheldon Dries, in an empty net, took charge of the Canucks attack (24-17-3-1). Stevens also had an assist and Mart Murphy finished the game with two assists. In goal, goalkeeper Spencer Martin collected the victory by blocking 31 shots.
On the side of the Rocket (24-18-3-0), Shawn St. Amant and Brandon Gignac replied. Kevin Poulin suffered the defeat giving up three times on 33 shots. The locals wasted three opportunities on the power play. The five-man attack remains a headache for the Laval team, which posted a performance of less than 18%.
St. Amant broke the ice midway through the first period for the Rocket with a hard-fought second effort. After a turnover caused by the effective forecheck of his teammates, St-Amant received a pass in front of the net. His first shot was blocked by the goalkeeper, but the latter was unable to control the disc and St-Amant hastened to push it into the back of the net.
Sheldon Rempal tied the game at 6:48 in the second period. The forward made a nice maneuver by pretending to go around the net before turning around to beat Poulin by slipping the puck between the post and the goalkeeper’s skate.
John Stevens gave the Canucks the lead less than five minutes later as the Rocket seemed completely overwhelmed by the situation. The visitors were leading 13-1 in the mid-period shot column when Stevens scored. Devante Stephens made it 3-1 late in the period with an outnumbered attack.
Goaltender Kevin Poulin was retired with five minutes left in the game and Sheldon Dries scored the Canucks’ fourth goal with a punt that slid into the net.
Brandon Gignac, shorthanded, reduced the gap to two goals in a two-goal run against the goaltender with Danick Martel, but there was less than a minute left on the clock.