First Line Shines, Rocket Beat Comets 5-4 in OT
February 6, 2020 - American Hockey League (AHL) - Laval Rocket News Release
LAVAL - The Rocket followed their captain's lead in a back-and-forth duel that saw the Rocket get the last laugh, knocking off the Utica Comets 5-4 in overtime and coming way with a precious two points as they seek to climb the rankings in the playoff race down the stretch.
The Rocket's big guns starred for them in a high-scoring affair on Wednesday night; Xavier Ouellet recorded four points, including the game winner, Charles Hudon and Jake Evans each netted a pair of goals and an assist, and Jesperi Kotkaniemi added three helpers en route to the victory.
Reid Boucher, the league leader in points, scored his 25th of the season for the Comets. Francis Perron, Guillaume Brisebois, and John Stevens also scored for the visitors, who recovered from one-goal deficits on four separate occasions to force overtime at Place Bell.
Laval demonstrated great resiliency on Wednesday night, however, rebounding in the spare frame to capture the extra point, leaving them just three points shy of Utica in the standings, with one game in hand. They used the man advantage efficiently against the Comets, burying three power plays markers - Evans also capitalized shorthanded.
The Rocket's perfect night on the power play improved their efficiency to 21.1% on the season, bumping them to 6th among all AHL teams. With a trio of powerplay goals on Wednesday, they extended their streak of two or more powerplay goals to three games, totalling seven dating back to January 31st against Belleville.
Charles Hudon's first-period goals, with the extra skater, saw him grab the league lead for powerplay goals with 14.
Michael McNiven stopped 31 shots to notch his first win of the season in his first start with the team.
"It was not perfect, but it's a process. We want our game to be tight, with a good foundation and attention to details [...] We had plenty of offense [...] I liked that the guys were focused on details and they wanted to play well," said Joël Bouchard after the game.
Marqueurs/Scorers
LAV: Hudon (Ouellet, Kotkaniemi) | Hudon (Kotkaniemi, Ouellet) | Evans (Alzner, Brook) | Evans (Ouellet, Kotkaniemi) | Ouellet (Hudon, Evans)
UTI: Perron (Gadjovich, Jasek) | Brisebois (Jasek, Juolevi) | Stevens (LeBlanc, Sautner) | Boucher (Camper, Baertschi)
Unités spéciales/Special teams
LAV | AN/PP: (3/3) | IN/PK: (2/4)
UTI | AN/PP: (2/4) | IN/PK: (0/3)
Gardiens/Goaltenders
LAV: McNiven (31/35) | UTI: DiPietro (33/38)
Trois étoiles/Three stars
1. Xavier Ouellet - LAV 2. Jake Evans - LAV 3. Charles Hudon - LAV
• Discuss this story on the American Hockey League message board...
American Hockey League Stories from February 6, 2020
- Wolves Caught by Moose - Chicago Wolves
- Condors Throw It Back with Fog Jerseys, $2 Beers, and $1 Hot Dogs Friday - Bakersfield Condors
- Barracuda Forward Jonny Brodzinski and Lauren Brodzinski Celebrate Birth of their First Child - San Jose Barracuda
- Third Annual Great Skate Happens Saturday - Milwaukee Admirals
- Blackhawks Night and Sock Monkey Madness Highlight Weekend Slate - Rockford IceHogs
- San Diego Gulls Announce Three-Year Partnership with Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego Gulls
- Five Memorable Games at CAA Arena - Belleville Senators
- IceHogs Re-Assign Defenseman Jack Ramsey to Indy Fuel - Rockford IceHogs
- Barracuda Recall Artem Ivanyuzhenkov and Reassign Andrew Shortridge - San Jose Barracuda
- Minnesota Wild Recalls Defenseman Matt Bartkowski from Iowa - Iowa Wild
- Flames Recall Brandon Davidson - Stockton Heat
- Coyotes Recall Robbie Russo from Tucson - Tucson Roadrunners
- Amerks Renew Partnership with Seneca Park Zoo Society for "Defend the Ice Month" - Rochester Americans
- Andy Andreoff Recalled by Philadelphia - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Devils Ink Kyle Cumiskey to AHL Contract - Binghamton Devils
- Blue Jackets Recall Three Players from Monsters - Cleveland Monsters
- Kirill Ustimenko Reassigned to Lehigh Valley - Lehigh Valley Phantoms
- Hayton Scores In Debut, Prosvetov Stellar But Tucson Falls To Open Gem Show Road Trip - Tucson Roadrunners
- Barracuda Spilled 4-2 by Gulls - San Jose Barracuda
- Gulls Double up San Jose, 4-2 - San Diego Gulls
- Condors Start Fast in 4-2 Win in Front of 7,090 - Bakersfield Condors
- First Line Shines, Rocket Beat Comets 5-4 in OT - Laval Rocket
- Defense Shines in Wild's 4-0 Win against Rampage - Iowa Wild
- LA Kings Recall Cal Petersen from Ontario - Ontario Reign
- Admirals Stumble against Griffins - Milwaukee Admirals
- Kahkonen, Wild Silence Rampage - San Antonio Rampage
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.
Other Recent Laval Rocket Stories
- Laval Rocket Announce Broadcast Schedule for the 2021-22 Season
- Rocket Announce 2021-22 Season Schedule
- The New Leader: Jean-François Houle
- Jean-François Houle Appointed Head Coach of the Laval Rocket
- Rocket Agree to Terms on a One-Year, Two-Way AHL Contract with Justin Ducharme