Sports stats



AHL Laval Rocket

Bridgeport Sound Tigers Defeat Rocket 2-1

April 11, 2019 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Laval Rocket News Release


BRIDGEPORT - The Laval Rocket will close out their 2018-2019 season with a three-game road trip this week, and the first of these games was played against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Wednesday night at the Webster Bank Arena. Though the Rocket controlled much of the game and limited their opponents to just 20 shots on goal, the Sound Tigers eventually took hold of and held on for a 2-1 victory.

Joël Bouchard's troops opened up their road trip with a near-perfect defensive period, allowing just five shots to reach netminder Michael McNiven in the first 20 minutes of play while the visitors forwards sent double the amount of shots on Bridgeport's Christopher Gibson in that time. Despite this, a one-timer from Kieffer Bellows more than 15 minutes into the period gave the Sound Tigers a 1-0 lead after one.

Alexandre Alain fed Alex Kile a breakaway pass when he emerged from the penalty box less than five minutes into the second period which allowed the Rocket to tie the game at one. Kile backhanded his sixth of the season up high on Gibson, who made 31 saves in his team's victory. However, just 56 seconds after the Rocket tied the game, the Sound Tigers reclaimed their lead on a two-on-one that saw Stephen Gionta and Connor Jones make a few smart passes in order to beat McNiven.

Five minor penalties were distributed in the final frame of which two were against the Rocket, forcing Laval's penalty killers to go a perfect four-for-four on the night to prevent the Sound Tigers from increasing their lead in the final 20 minutes of play. Ultimately no goals were scored in the third, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Sound Tigers with less than two minutes remaining in the game allowed the Rocket to get McNiven on the bench for a six-on-four advantage, but Gibson made multiple big saves to secure the 2-1 victory for his team.

Goalscorers:

LAV: Kile (Alain)

BRI: Bellows (Vande Sompel, Lorito) | Gionta (Jones, Bourque)

Goaltenders: LAV: McNiven (18/20) | BRI: Gibson (31/32)

Rocket Powerplay: 0/6 | Rocket Penalty Kill: 4/4

Three Stars: 1. Christopher Gibson - BRI | 2. Stephen Gionta - BRI | 3. Kieffer Bellows - BRI

Check out the Laval Rocket Statistics

• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...

American Hockey League Stories from April 11, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central