(Laval) A fraction of a second. Shots. This is what the Laval Rocket lacked on Saturday afternoon to get a point in the standings, perhaps then a second in extra time and thus crown a great comeback.
The Rocket was unable to split the honors in its weekend doubleheader against the Abbotsford Canucks, suffering a heartbreaking 4-3 loss in front of 7,940 spectators at Place Bell.
Tristen Nielsen’s third goal of the game late in the third period made the difference.
After his goal in the first period, Nielsen hit the target on two occasions in the final third, each time following blunders by the Rocket in his territory.
“It’s definitely a tough one to swallow because we were losing 2-0, we came from behind and we managed to score an equalizer. Two turnovers that really cost us,” analyzed head coach Jean-François Houle.
“It’s important to manage the puck well. I think we have to be better at that, and we have to be better in our defensive zone. We have guys who are minus-2, minus-3. At five against five, you have to give fewer quality chances,” added Houle.
Aidan McDonough also beat Strauss Mann, who faced 29 pucks and had no complaints.
Nielsen’s game-winning goal came 13 seconds after Lias Andersson tied the game with his second goal of the game on a power play.
The Rocket thought they had tied the game in the final moments of regulation time when Philippe Maillet found the back of the net. However, the green light came on a few tenths of a second before the disc moved the strings.
After the match, Andersson admitted that the Rocket locker room was very silent following this second loss in less than 24 hours.
“Everyone was calm. I think we all thought the same thing. It’s hard to lose like that, especially after tying things up towards the end. But the next turn on the ice, we got a goal scored. It’s always hard, but it’s hockey. These are things that happen. We have to put this match behind us and move forward. »
Joshua Roy, with his second in as many games, scored the other goal for the Rocket who directed 44 shots towards Nikita Tolopilo.
Roy, Andersson and Joel Armia, by far, were the best attackers of the Laval team.
The former finished the game with 10 shots on net, not counting a post during a power play in the third period, and an assist. The latter got eight shots and an assist on Roy’s goal.
Early in the second period, the Rocket lost the services of forward Emil Heineman.
The Swede was injured when he was involved in a bizarre incident with referee Mathieu Menniti behind the Canucks net. During his post-match press briefing, Houle did not provide details on the injury.
From this point in the game, Roy and Armia played on the same line, with Mitchell Stephens, in addition to spending a lot of time on the power play.
“I liked Roy, Armia and Stephens today. When Heineman went down in battle, those three were really good,” Houle noted.
“I’m very proud of Armia, too, by the way,” he immediately added. To come down to the American League and give the effort he gives, it’s great.
“Sometimes it can take three, four, five games before (a player) gets back into it. He hasn’t lost a beat, and apparently he’s a National League player. »
The Rocket will return to action on Wednesday for a sequence of three games in four nights.
The first two will take place at Place Bell against the Rochester Americans, Wednesday and Friday.
Next Saturday, the Rocket will play a first game away from home, in Belleville, against the Senators.
A trough of the wave
Friday night, a four-minute interval in the second period would eventually sink the Rocket.
Saturday afternoon, a mini dip in the second half of the first period placed the Laval team in a precarious position.
For a little over three minutes, the Rocket failed to test Tolopilo. However, during this sequence, the Canucks struck twice.
Nielsen opened the scoring by deflecting a shot off the wrists of defender Jett Woo at 14:39.
Less than three minutes later, McDonough was able to appear like a tourist in front of Mann’s net, whom he beat by first going around him to his right with a nice feint.
The Rocket, however, got back into the match thanks to a high-quality second period, during which they bombarded Tolopilo with 17 shots.
At 12:29, Roy cut the visitors’ lead in half on the power play. Then, with just under two minutes left in the middle period, Andersson brought both clubs back to square one.
The Swede managed to push a loose puck into the net behind Tolopilo, following a save by the goalkeeper on a shot from defender Jayden Struble.
This goal from Andersson was going to be the prelude to a spectacular third period, but which did not smile on the Laval team.