Senators 1 – Rocket 2 | Joshua Roy scores in the third period and gives his team the victory

(Laval) Looking at the score sheet, we can see that Joshua Roy played the hero for the Laval Rocket. But without the work of his shorthanded teammates, he probably wouldn't have been able to get there.

Roy broke the deadlock in the third period and the Rocket was perfect against nine numerical disadvantages to defeat the Belleville Senators 2-1, Friday evening, at Place Bell.

A physical and intense match was to be expected from these two rivals from the North section, but, for the majority of the clash, it was referees Morgan MacPhee and Hillary Brennan who wanted to make a spectacle of themselves.

However, they were outplayed by players like Laurent Dauphin, William Trudeau or Tyler Wotherspoon, among others, who do not always have the opportunity to have their moment of glory.

“The penalty kill unit was extraordinary. She won the match for us, observed head coach Pascal Vincent, who mentioned from the outset that he was not going to talk about the referees. The players blocked shots, they cleared the puck, they made big plays. We were aggressive when we needed to be. I thought it was an extraordinary game for the penalty kill unit. »

The Rocket (17-8-2) wasn't much better than his opponents with an extra man, but he managed to score the difference-making goal on his sixth of seven attempts.

After having himself caused a penalty on Hayden Hodgson, Roy grabbed the puck on the right side and fired a violent wrist shot into the top corner to record his 11^e goal of the campaign.

“It’s an emotional match and it was a big penalty. Recently our power play hasn't been as good as we wanted it to be. We had a lot of chances tonight and it ended up going in at the end,” Roy analyzed. Pushes are part of the sport and I can handle them. I don't worry too much about that. We just have to keep our concentration and not retaliate. »

This is a second victory in a row for the Montreal Canadiens' farm club, which came within one point of the Cleveland Monsters and first place in the North section.

Roy also got an assist on Rafaël Harvey-Pinard's goal, a first in his last six outings. Jakub Dobes played his first game since December 6 and stopped 31 pucks.

“He was excellent,” Vincent said of Dobes. He was big in front of the net, he read the game well and he made good outings. Jakub is part of our penalty kill and he made some important saves. »

The Rocket also welcomed the return to play of forward Filip Mesar, who had not played since October 25.

“I knew it wouldn't be easy, because it was very physical from the first time on the ice, but I was in good shape. It was one of the toughest matches I played,” Mesar said. It's not easy to sit on the bench without playing, but I felt good. »

Maxence Guenette was the only scorer for the Senators (12-7-4), who suffered a third loss in a row. Mads Sogaard made 19 saves in a losing cause.

A total of 92 penalty minutes were awarded during the match.

The Laval squad will return to action on Sunday afternoon, while the Springfield Thunderbirds will be visiting Place Bell.

A real fair

The pace of the match was dictated from the 19th^e second of the game, when Xavier Simoneau received the first of around twenty minor penalties during the match.

The Rocket's penalty kill unit also set the tone for its night of work by not giving the Senators many quality chances.

When the game took place at equal strength, it was also the Laval residents who had the best of their opponents. Sogaard, however, closed the door, in addition to receiving help from his left post following a deflection from Owen Beck.

A fight between Donovan Sebrango and Luke Tuch at the end of the first period demonstrated the animosity between the two rivals, but it was nothing compared to what awaited the fans in the second period.

Lucas Condotta and Zack MacEwen kicked off hostilities by throwing down the gloves and MacPhee then took care of fueling the show.

Handing out penalties and unsportsmanlike conduct as if they were Christmas presents, the referee gave a few reps to the Rocket's penalty-killing unit, which snuffed out the threats without flinching.

The lift came back for Pascal Vincent's men when MacPhee gave Hodgson a four-minute penalty, but it was the Senators' turn to escape unscathed despite several good shots.

The Laval team was, however, able to gain some momentum to finally open the score. Adam Engstrom saw his point shot hit Roy before Harvey-Pinard pushed the puck into an open net.

The Rocket thought about returning to the locker room with this priority of one goal, but a turnaround from Logan Mailloux eventually allowed Guenette to surprise Dobes with a precise wrist shot.

The home team finally managed to take advantage of a numerical advantage, at 5:10 of the last period, when Roy deceived Sogaard's vigilance. She also once again resisted a Senators numerical superiority in the final minutes of the match, while Dobes was helped by her horizontal bar.