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The Laval Rocket concludes its regular season with a matchup against the Syracuse Crunch at Place Bell.
Laval is currently in fifth and last place giving access to the North Division playoffs with 74 points. Laval leads the Cleveland Monsters who are three points behind, but two games in hand. The Monsters will play three games in three nights this weekend.
A victory for Jean-François-Houle’s squad would give them a good boost in view of the playoffs. Pierrick Dubé understood the message well. The former Shawinigan Cataractes opened the scoring after just 1:23.
The Crunch replied less than four minutes later. Jack Thompson eluded Cayden Primeau’s vigilance to tie the game.
Dubé, however, was on a mission. He scored his second goal of the game to put the Rocket back in front. Xavier Simoneau collected a second assist on the game.
Playing four against four, the Rocket took advantage of the space on the ice to add two goals to their lead. First Corey Schueneman made it 3-1, then Anthony Richard hit the 30-goal mark 62 seconds later. Richard’s net chased goaltender Hugo Alnefelt out of the game. The Crunch doorman gave in four times in front of the Rocket’s first 10 pitches.
With his 30th goal, Richard became the second player in Laval organization history to reach that mark. The team record belongs to Chris Terry, who found the back of the net 32 times in 2017-18.
Pre-game notes
The Canadiens traded Frédéric Allard, Lucas Condotta and Joël Teasdale to the Laval Rocket on Friday.
Urgently recalled Thursday afternoon, Condotta made his NHL debut Thursday night against the Bruins. The 25-year-old striker scored his first goal on his first appearance on the ice after 3:27.
Teasdale, playing his second NHL game, picked up his first point on Condotta’s goal.