(Rochester) Logan Mailloux scored his fourth goal of the season during a power play in overtime to give the Laval Rocket a 3-2 victory against the Rochester Americans on Wednesday evening at Blue Cross Arena.
Posted at 10:22 p.m.
The Rocket found themselves with a numerical superiority following a penalty for obstruction against Konsta Helenius in Laval territory, with 1:44 remaining in the additional period.
Pascal Vincent then called on Mailloux, Owen Beck, Joshua Roy and Alex Barré-Boulet for this four-on-three numerical advantage.
The four Rocket players maintained the pressure in opposing territory and Mailloux ended the game with a wrist shot from the top of the slot, with 21 seconds to play.
Beck and Barré-Boulet collected the assists.
Luke Tuch (4e) and Barré-Boulet (4e) found the back of the net in the third period for the Rocket, who got 25 shots towards goaltender Michael Houser.
Graham Slaggert, in the second period, and Anton Wahlberg, in the third period, thwarted the vigilance of Jakub Dobes, who faced 31 shots.
The Rocket was able to count on the return of forward Jared Davidson after a three-game absence.
The Rocket will continue its journey abroad by visiting the Syracuse Crunch on Friday, whom the Laval team beat twice in as many outings at Place Bell, on October 18 and 19.
The next day, the Rocket will return to Rochester to complete its five-game streak on rival ices.
Dobes se montre solide
The Rocket had a difficult start to the match and with the exception of a few rare scoring opportunities, very spaced apart, the Laval team never managed to win during the first twenty.
Dobes, however, closed the door on each of the Americans’ threats and the Rocket was able to return to the locker room with a score of 0-0 despite a 14-4 advantage for the Americans in terms of shots on goal.
Not four minutes had passed in the match when the Americans already had four shots on goal. They added four more during a minor penalty to Florian Xhekaj.
Dobes made his best save on a Brett Murray receiving shot with six seconds remaining on an Owen Beck penalty.
Despite his meager four shots, the Rocket had good chances to break the tie, notably Laurent Dauphin, early in the first period, and Tuch, during the last minute. But on every occasion, Houser made great saves.
The Rocket played a little more inspired in the first half of the second period, despite having to play short of a man on two other occasions.
Sean Farrell came close to ending his drought by firing two point-blank shots in quick succession, which Houser skillfully stopped.
The Americans finally broke the tie at 12:16 of the middle period thanks to Slaggert, who scored from the mouth of the net after receiving a pass from Brendan Warren.
The Rocket came back to life at the very beginning of the third period and tied the game at 2:59 thanks to Tuch’s goal, using a shot from the right faceoff circle.
Then, from roughly the same spot, during a power play, Barré-Boulet beat Houser at 9:31 with a one-timer after receiving a side pass from Logan Mailloux.
But the Rocket’s lead lasted only 13 seconds, Wahlberg taking advantage of a loose puck in front of Dobes’ net, which the Rocket goaltender tried to stop with his glove, but without success.