The Rocket suffer a 3-2 loss against the Senators and will not participate in the playoffs

(Belleville) Time and time again in 2023-24, Laval Rocket players have shown indiscipline, to the point of spending more time in the penalty box than ever before in the team’s history. Friday evening, a minor punishment that had nothing to do with indiscipline came to sink them.

The Rocket were officially eliminated from the playoff race in the American League North Division, following a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Belleville Senators on Friday night at CAA Arena.

The Rocket’s fate began to be decided with just over five minutes remaining in the third period on a goal by Egor Sokolov, scored on a power play after an unlucky penalty to Mitchell Stephens for delaying the game.

This goal allowed the Senators to tie the game 2-2, while the Rocket needed to win in regulation to stay alive.

Sokolov put the final nail in Laval’s coffin by adding an empty-net goal at 19:59. The Senators were able to celebrate their qualification for the playoffs.

“It’s hard to digest. I thought we played a good game, we had the lead the whole game. We took a little too much punishment which cost us the match. But the guys gave a good effort this evening,” first analyzed head coach Jean-François Houle.

Sokolov’s first goal was scored during the Senators’ fifth power play of the game. The Rocket had held out in the previous four.

In total, on Friday, the Rocket players received six minor penalties, a number too high for Houle’s liking, especially in the context that prevailed Friday evening.

“Six penalties is too many in important matches. We have to control our sticks. It’s too much punishment,” Houle repeated.

After 71 games, Rocket players have totaled 1,109 minutes of penalties, 10 minutes more than their old record, which dated from the 2017-2018 season.

Despite the final result, goaltender Jakub Dobes delivered another quality performance in front of the Rocket net. Before Sokolov’s stunning goal, Dobes had only conceded to Wyatt Bongiovanni in the second period.

Dobes finished the game with 28 saves.

Stephens (13^e), in the first period, and Lias Andersson (21^e), in the second period, thwarted the vigilance of Mads Sogaard, who blocked 25 pucks.

The Rocket led 2-0 after 24 minutes of play.

The match marked the return to the Rocket of forward Joshua Roy, who was in fact making his first outing since March 19 while wearing the Montreal Canadiens uniform. Roy was barely visible, being limited to two shots.

Defensemen Jayden Struble and Justin Barron were also back with the Rocket, and the former had an assist on Stephens’ goal.

This means that the return match between the same two teams, Saturday evening at Place Bell, will no longer have any importance. Except for honor and pride.

This last word came up in Houle’s comments.

“Tomorrow, we must play with pride in front of our fans who have supported us all year, and that is what our players will do,” he promised.

For defender Tobie Bisson-Paquette, Saturday’s duel will be an opportunity to make amends.

“For us, it’s not over,” he insisted. We have a big match tomorrow and what’s more, we’re playing against them. We’re going to show them that this should have been our place. »

While waiting for this last match for the honor, Bisson-Paquette deplored the team’s lack of consistency.

“Our year has been a bit of a roller coaster. We were fine. We weren’t doing well, he stressed. We kind of did it to ourselves. There are plenty of defeats that we had that we shouldn’t have had, and we would have had a good place in the playoffs. »

Dobes reassuring

The Rocket did not have an ideal start to the match, when Roy, at 4:18, then William Trudeau, at 7:06, took turns visiting the penalty box.

Each time, the Laval team held on, thanks to good saves from Dobes during the first numerical penalty, then thanks to solid work from the defensive specialists during the second.

Then, just five seconds after Trudeau’s penalty ended, the Rocket opened the scoring when Stephens beat Sogaard with a wrist shot after accepting a pass from Riley Kidney during a two-on-one push.

This goal, scored on the Rocket’s third shot – the Senators totaled seven – provided a burst of energy to the Laval team, but not enough to allow them to double their lead before the end of the first 20 minutes of play.

However, Houle’s troops would recover early in the second period when Andersson recovered the return of a shot from Bisson-Paquette to put the puck in the net, at 3:24.

However, that two-goal cushion only lasted 68 seconds. Forgotten behind the Rocket defenders, Bongiovanni received a precise pass from Rourke Chartier and was able to escape towards Dobes, whom he beat with a low shot, on the stick side.

The Rocket offered a solid overall game during the first 13 minutes of play in the third period, but bad luck awaited around the corner.

A stray puck sailed off Stephens’ glove and into the stands, giving the Senators a power play with 6:17 left in the third period.

Just 35 seconds later, Sokolov tied the game with a powerful one-timer that gave Dobes no chance.

The Rocket was unable to recover.