Jesse Ylönen collected two points against his former team and the Laval Rocket lost 5-2 to the Syracuse Crunch on Saturday afternoon at Place Bell.
Ylönen, who played for the Rocket for three seasons, collected a goal and an assist to lead the Crunch (13-9-7) to a second victory in less than 24 hours against their North Section rivals.
The Montreal Canadiens’ farm club had not lost in the first four clashes against the Crunch this season, but it has just offered two lackluster performances to end the year 2024.
Xavier Simoneau and Alex Barré-Boulet threaded the needle for the Rocket (18-10-2), who did not find answers to his opponent’s style of play. Luke Cavallin made his second start in the American League this season and stopped 27 pitches.
Max Crozier, Gabriel Szturc, Joël Teasdale, another former Rocket, and Gabriel Fortier, in an empty net, also hit the mark for the visitors. Logan Brown and Conor Sheary both had two assists.
Resting Friday night, Brandon Halverson had a good game in front of the Crunch cage, giving in twice in 23 shots.
The Rocket will enjoy several days off before returning to action next Friday against the Abbotsford Canucks.
Similar result
Head coach Pascal Vincent expected a much better start to the match from his men and they answered the call in the first minutes, causing two penalties.
After having difficulty setting up in the enemy zone with a numerical superiority on Friday, the Rocket was more threatening during the second confrontation. Newly used on the first wave, William Trudeau made things easier for his unit, but Halverson did nothing.
The intensity of Laval was felt in the first engagement, but also at the start of the second period. At 2:09, Lucas Condotta grabbed a handover from Adam Engström and left the puck to Simoneau. The Quebecer took advantage of the presence of his teammate near the net to surprise Halverson on the glove side.
The pace was not maintained, however, and three penalties awarded to Logan Mailloux, including 10 minutes of unsportsmanlike conduct, appeared to dampen the home team’s momentum. The Crunch didn’t ask for that much.
While Mailloux was in the penalty box, Ylönen spotted Szturc in the face-off circle and the latter deceived Cavallin’s vigilance on the glove side.
The Rocket got a slight boost of life when Crozier took a four-minute penalty, but despite several good shots, he was unable to take the lead. Rather, it was the visitors who seemed energized.
Entering the zone, Sheary saw that Luke Tuch had missed his coverage and he handed the puck to Ylönen, who slipped it between Cavallin’s pads. A little over a minute later, Crozier waited for Engström to compromise and fired a very precise shot into the top of the net to give the Crunch a 3-1 lead.
The second intermission did not help the cause of Vincent’s troops and they conceded a fourth goal. Under pressure, Brown grabbed the puck and made a nice pass to Teasdale, who moved the strings.
The Laval fans were able to believe it again when Barré-Boulet completed Owen Beck’s pass to reduce the gap to 4-2, but Fortier drove in the final nail with 2:45 to go.
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