The Laval Rocket bounced back from Wednesday’s overtime loss in a big way. Friday night at Place Bell, Hunter McKown scored against the team he spent the last three seasons with, Brett Berard scored twice, and the Rocket beat the Cleveland Monsters 6-2. The Rocket (9-3-1) outshot Cleveland 42-30, went 1-for-3 on the power play and did not allow a power-play goal in four chances. It was a complete game, and it could have been even more lopsided.
How the Game Unfolded
Cleveland had the first good chance of the night, and it hit the post. A hard shot from Boston Buckberger rang off the iron to the left of Kaapo Kähkönen, and the Rocket made them pay twice before the period ended.
The first goal came at 13:44 and started with a point shot from Braden Haché. Hunter McKown battled in front of the net, kicked the puck with his skate to Josh Nadeau, and Nadeau finished it. That is exactly how a coach wants a goal built: a shot from the blue line, a body at the net and a teammate ready for the rebound. Just 3 minutes later, on the power play, Laurent Dauphin came out of the corner, showed great patience and beat Pheonix Copley at 16:46 to make it 2-0. Alex Belzile and Reilly Walsh got the assists.
Cleveland started the second period the right way. Luca Pinelli scored 19 seconds in after a turnover, taking the open ice and putting a wrist shot through traffic. The Rocket answered by getting back to the forecheck. Tyler Thorpe and Xavier Simoneau were tough on the puck deep in the zone, Simoneau found Dillan Bentley, and Bentley put the puck in the top corner at 4:55 to restore the two-goal lead. It turned out to be the game-winning goal.
Cleveland got one back at 7:40 when Owen Sillinger scored off a pass from Pinelli, but the Monsters never got closer. Late in the period, Emil Andrae turned the puck over and McKown made him pay. He spun around and slid the puck between his legs past Copley at 19:29 for a 4-2 lead. It is a goal that will show up on the highlight reels this week, and it was against his old team.
The third period belonged to Berard. He scored at 5:12 off a pass from Reilly Walsh and again at 12:46 on a feed from Owen Protz for his fifth and sixth goals of the season, and Laval closed it out from there. Berard finished with six shots on goal, more than any other player on the ice.
Special Teams Made the Difference
The Rocket’s special teams were excellent. The power play scored once on three chances, and the penalty kill was perfect, stopping all four Cleveland chances, including a four-minute double-minor on Protz in the third period. That is how you win a game: score on the man advantage, stay disciplined when you can, and do not let the other team back in with a power-play goal. The Rocket took 10 penalty minutes to Cleveland’s 8, so the kill had real work to do and delivered every time.
Goaltending: Kähkönen Steady, Copley Keeps It Close
Kaapo Kähkönen returned to the net and stopped 28 of 30 shots. The two goals he gave up came off a turnover and a pass from Pinelli, and he did not give anything else away. At the other end, Copley faced 42 shots and stopped 36. He made several big saves, especially in the second period, and that is the only reason this game did not finish 8-2 or 9-2. The Rocket kept getting to the net and shooting from good spots, and the scoreboard could have been bigger.
| Laval Rocket | Cleveland Monsters | |
|---|---|---|
| Shots on goal | 42 | 30 |
| Goalie | Kähkönen: 28 saves on 30 shots (.933) | Copley: 36 saves on 42 shots (.857) |
| Power play | 1-for-3 | 0-for-4 |
| Penalty minutes | 10 | 8 |
Rocket Players
| Player | G | A | PTS | SOG | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brett Berard | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 | +2 |
| Hunter McKown | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | +2 |
| Reilly Walsh | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | +3 |
| Josh Nadeau | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +2 |
| Laurent Dauphin | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | -1 |
| Dillan Bentley | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Braden Haché | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | +4 |
| Samuel Poulin | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | +2 |
| Xavier Simoneau | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Thorpe | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Owen Protz | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | +1 |
| Alex Belzile | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | -1 |
The three stars of the game, by the official AHL selection, were Berard, McKown and Walsh. Walsh now has 15 points in 13 games and is tied with Dauphin for second among Rocket scorers behind Luke Mittelstadt, who leads the team with 16 points. McKown has 3 goals and 2 assists in 13 games, and Berard has moved to 6 goals. Haché, a defenseman, finished with four shots and a +4, which is a quiet but very good night at the blue line.
Next Up
The same two teams play again Saturday, November 7, at 3:00 p.m. ET at Place Bell. Cleveland has lost three straight and will want to answer, and the Rocket now have a chance to take both games of the weekend. After that, Laval travels to Syracuse on Wednesday, November 11, at 7:00 p.m. ET. Follow the full Rocket stats and schedule on HABSHQ, and read what happened Wednesday in our recap of the 5-4 overtime loss to Lehigh Valley. Laval, let’s go.
Sources: official AHL game data (theahl.com) and RDS.
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