BELLEVILLE, ON – Alex Barré-Boulet and Logan Mailloux scored in a shootout, and the Laval Rocket snatched a 4-3 win from the Belleville Senators on Friday to sign an eighth victory in a row and improve a record at the same time concession.
Luke Tuch scored the tying goal with 1:40 left in regulation, while the Rocket deployed six skaters. Fed into the slot by another recruit from the Laval team in Owen Beck, the large winger scored his third goal of the year.
Pascal Vincent’s team extended their series of successes despite the fact that they did not lead in this clash.
Moments before Tuch forced overtime, Angus Crookshank scored on a double power play at 13:28 of the third period to give the hosts a 3-2 lead.
The Rocket (9-1-0) himself had benefited from a massive five-on-three attack situation for more than a minute, without being able to take advantage of it.
When the same type of opportunity was offered to the Sens (5-1-0-4) a few minutes later, they did not let such an opportunity pass them by.
Except that the visitors should not be counted as beaten.
Barré-Boulet and Brandon Gignac scored the other goals for Laval in regulation time. In Gignac’s case, it was a first goal, in his eighth game of the campaign.
Barré-Boulet, who had some of the best scoring chances in overtime, made a remarkable return to action after sitting out his club’s last two games against the Providence Bruins.
By sweeping a two-game home series against Providence last weekend, the Rocket had already established a franchise mark with a seventh consecutive victory.
Shortly before midway in the third, the Sens saw their No. 1 goaltender Leevi Merilainen leave and give up the cage to veteran Malcolm Subban.
Aged 30, Subban protected the net for a Belleville team for the first time since 2013. It was in this city that he played his junior hockey in the OHL.
Laval must make do without two important forwards for its stay in Belleville, in this case its captain Lukas Condotta, recalled by the Canadiens midweek, and Jared Davidson, who is nursing a lower body injury.
Goaltender Jakub Dobes was also available for the Laval team after a short absence, although Pascal Vincent turned to Hughes for the first of two duels on the ice of the Ottawa Senators farm club.
Saturday’s meeting between the two North Division clubs will begin at 7 p.m.
