AHL Laval Rocket

Michael McCarron Notches Four Points in Tight 5-4 Loss to Utica Comets

Published on December 1, 2018 under American Hockey League (AHL)
Laval Rocket News Release


LAVAL - In a high energy matchup, the Laval Rocket put on a show for fans who came out to attend the home team's second annual Teddy Bear Toss game, despite a tough loss to the Utica Comets by a score of 5-4 on Saturday afternoon at Place Bell, in front of a crowd of 6,415 fans. Michael McCarron and Alex Belzile put up standout performances, with McCarron notching assists on four Rocket goals and Belzile with a goal and an assist of his own.

Despite the Rocket going down 1-0 early in the first period, goaltender Charlie Lindgren was a bright spot at the start of this game, stopping 15/16 shots in the first frame. Well into the second half of the first, Laval's Hunter Shinkaruk nearly had a chance to even the score, robbed by Utica starting goaltender Richard Bachman, who leapt out of his net to grab the bouncing puck. As the final minutes of the first counted down, the Rocket penalty kill looked solid, keeping the Comets power play out of the defensive zone and holding them to just one shot to keep their opponent's lead to just one goal in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The second period saw the Laval Rocket take the ice with renewed offensive energy. Just under two minutes in, Laval's Michael McCarron fired off a beauty of a pass in the offensive zone to up teammate Alex Belzile for his third of the season, provoking a rain of teddy bears upon the ice at Place Bell and tying the game at 1-1. Halfway through the second, Joel Bouchard's men would see themselves trailing yet again, but not for very long. Utica's Darren Archibald put the Comets up 2-1 at 10:25 with Laval's Ryan Culkin answering back moments later with his first of the season off a feed from captain Byron Froese to bring the score to 2-2. Utica snuck a third past Lindgren late in the second to regain their lead, but Laval emerged with the upper hand with 2 goals and 9 shots on goal.

The third period began with yet another early goal for the Rocket, courtesy of Hunter Shinkaruk and assisted by Michael McCarron on the powerplay. The Comets added two more goals to their tally nearing the final minutes of the game, one of them an awkward bounce off the pads of Comets and Rocket players alike. The Rocket showed resolve in an attempt to mount a comeback, shortening their opponent's lead to 5-4 with five minutes remaining as Victor Mete, recently sent down to the team, scored his first ever AHL goal.

TEDDY BEAR TOSS GAME

The Laval Rocket got involved in helping the less fortunate with the popular Teddy Bear Toss during Saturday afternoon's game against the Utica Comets. Following the first goal of the game, fans were encouraged to throw teddy bears on the ice that they brought to the arena or purchased at kiosks in the arena. The team worked in conjunction with the Service de police de la Ville de Laval to collect the teddy bears thrown onto the ice in the second period. Alex Belzile's third goal of the season allowed stuffed animals to rain down from the crowd of 6,415 for the second annual Laval Rocket teddy bear toss benefitting multiple local charities. The 3,282 collected teddy bears will be handed out to the following organizations: Fondation Cité de la santé, Centre de femmes de Laval, Le relais communautaire Pont Viau, La maison de Lina, Centre jeunesse de Laval, Centre communautaire Petit Espoir, Centre communautaire Val-Martin - Maison de la famille, Entraide Pont-Viau et Laval-des-Rapides, and many more. This initiative aims to put a smile on the faces of kids in need during the holiday season.

Goalscorers:

LAV: Belzile (McCarron, Alain) | Culkin (Froese, McCarron) | Shinkaruk (McCarron, Belzile) | Mete (McCarron, Alain)

UTI: Kero (McEneny, MacMaster) | Archibald (Carcone, McEneny) | MacEwen (Darcy) | McEneny (Carcone, Boucher) | Gaunce (unassisted)

Goaltenders: LAV: Lindgren (32/37) | UTI: Bachman (29/33)

Rocket Powerplay: 1/2 | Rocket Penalty Kill: 3/6

Three Stars: 1. Reid Boucher - UTI | 2. Michael McCarron - LAV| 3. Richard Bachman - UTI

Check out the Laval Rocket Statistics

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American Hockey League Stories from December 1, 2018


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