The Laval Rocket celebrated the first playoff game in Place Bell history in style, winning 4-1 once morest the Syracuse Crunch in a heated atmosphere on Thursday night.
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The Rocket leads the series 2-1 and can send their rivals on vacation on Saturday.
“The crowd was extraordinary, launched following the meeting Jean-Sébastien Dea, author of two points. I’ve been in the league for a long time and I’ve never seen this before. We gave everything until the end.”
To the delight of Jean-François Houle, the Montreal Canadiens training club did not fall into the trap of emotions, galvanizing the energy of the fans.
Thierry Laforce / Agence QMI
“Our team tends to be out of control sometimes, but I found that we were very calm on the bench,” noted the head coach.
We saw it when objects were thrown on the ice following Xavier Ouellet was denied a goal in the third period. Instead of imitating their supporters and showing indiscipline, the Rocket offered a reason for Laval residents to celebrate a few moments later.
Thierry Laforce / Agence QMI
It was Cédric Paquette who played the heroes, giving his team the lead on the power play by skilfully redirecting a pass from Dea. The two actors of this success nailed the coffin of the Crunch at the end of the meeting by each in turn sliding the puck into an abandoned cage.
Primeau once more
The Rocket offered very few quality scoring chances to their opponents during the game, but they can still say thank you to Cayden Primeau. The young American goalkeeper excelled in a second straight start, making 22 saves.
Thierry Laforce / Agence QMI
“I’m really proud of him,” Houle said of his trusted man. It’s difficult for him in Montreal, he was trying to regain his confidence. It’s a good experience for him.”
The Syracuse team also waited until the start of the middle period to score their only goal of the game. After a lackluster effort from Paquette in a two-on-one, Remi Elie had his chance at the other end of the rink and he didn’t miss it.
Before that, the Crunch seemed taken aback by the vehemence of the 10,000 Rocket fans early in the game, giving their rivals four power plays in the first period.
Danick Martel made sure to make Benoît Groulx’s men pay as soon as he had the opportunity. He honored a skilful pass from Sami Niku by unleashing a powerful throw on reception which gave Maxime Lagacé no chance.
“We played a good game, concluded Paquette. We worked hard. We were the best team. We have to do the same thing on Saturday.”
